LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

University  of  California. 

GIFT   OF 

Mrs.  SARAH  P.  WALSWORTH. 

Received  October,  18Q4. 
Accessions  No.  HTf  tf  (c  0  •      Class  No.  J?  i.hr.Q.fi  ** 


STATUE    OF   JUPITER    OLTMPIUS 


See  page  140. 


THE 


£Efo 


imms, 


Of   THE 


AMD  THEIR 

ILLATIONS 


jfguIl 


THE 


SEVEN  WONDERS  OF  THE  WORLD. 


THEIR  ASSOCIATIONS. 


WITH     EIGHT     ILLUSTRATIONS. 


PUBLISHED   BY   CARLTON   ik   PHILLIPS. 

SUNDAY-SCHOOL    UNION,    200    MULBEBRY-STBEET. 

1854. 


iS 


*-f\ 


h'JMo 


INTRODUCTION. 


Around  us  moves  this  magic  world 
With  all  appeals  of  blended  power ; 

And  o'er  our  heads  unfurl'd 
The  heavens,  which  change  each  hour. 

Above,  beneath,  where'er  we  gaze, 

On  sky,  or  soil,  or  living  sea, 
Some  chord  is  touch'd  that  plays 

And  thrills,  0  God !  from  thee. 

Montgomery's  Christian  Life. 

The  Seven  Wonders  of  the  World  are  among 
the  traditions  of  our  childhood;  and  yet,  it  is  a 
remarkable  fact,  that  ninety-nine  persons  out  of  a 
hundred  who  might  be  asked  the  question,  could  not 
name  them.  These  marvels  of  the  ancients  had, 
from  being  familiar,  become  forgotten,  and  treated 
as  myths  known  to  us  through  traditions  collected 
by  the  Greeks,  so  replete  with  absurdities  that  it 
was  difficult  to  select  the  true  from  the  fabulous. 

The  chief  object  of  the  compiler  of  this  volume  is 
to  present  such  particulars  of  these  marvels  of  distant 
centuries  as  could  be  gathered  from  the  writers  of 
the  ages  in  which  they  existed,  or  those  nearest  the 
time,  upon  whom  reliance  may  be  placed,  in  a  narra- 
tive form  ; — corroborating  those  statements  by  the 


b  INTRODUCTION. 

accounts  of  modern  travelers :  and  to  illustrate  the 
relation  by  some  explanations  of  public  ceremonies 
immediately  brought  into  connection  with  them ; 
such,  for  instance,  as  J;he  Olympic  Games  allied  to 
the  worship  of  Jupiter,  and  the  Pythian  Games  with 
that  of  Apollo ;  besides  notices  of  the  more  celebra- 
ted temples  raised  to  those  deities  ;  the  worship  of 
Diana,  with  her  noted  temple,  and  reference  to  the 
various  oracles  attached  to  each. 

The  association  of  ideas  that  will  necessarily  arise 
in  contemplating  these  wondrous  works  of  past  ages, 
leads  to  the  notice  of  other  fabrics  of  a  similar  kind 
of  after-times,  as  well  as  to  those  of  our  own  day ;  as 
the  more  remarkable  mausoleums  or  memorials  of 
the  great  and  the  brave — the  Pyramids  of  India  and 
Mexico — and  those  vast  mounds  of  similar  form  in 
other  parts  of  the  globe ;  and  in  connection  with  the 
Pharos  that  originated  a  name  for  such  structures, 
the  Pharos  of  the  Emperor  Claudius  at  Ostia ;  among 
others  of  modern  date,  the  superb  one  at  Cordouan ; 
and  especially,  we  may  refer  with  pride  to  those 
paragons  of  engineering  triumph  over  natural  obsta- 
cles,— the  light-houses  on  the  Eddystone,  and  the 
Bell  Kock. 

Time  has  not  been  able  to  erase  these  wonders  of 
the  ancients  from  the  page  of  history.  Marvels 
they  have  continued ;  and  from  being  the  first  of 
their  kind,  have  remained  the  examples  and  proto- 
types to  those  which  followed. 

The  Pyramids,  we  may  be  justly  allowed  to  con- 
sider as  the  preludial  types  for  raising  vast  architec- 
tural structures ;  and  their  form  must  be  attributed 
to  a  knowledge  of  the  regular  solid  figures,  since 
their  duration  satisfactorily  proves  that  prescience 


k 


INTRODUCTION.  7 

devised  a  shape  calculated  to  accomplish  that  end ; 
and,  setting  aside  the  theory  that  these  piles  had 
any  astronomical  utility, — we  think  it  cannot  be 
questioned  that  their  form  or  position  was  alike  in- 
tentional, though  with  what  object  we  are  unable  to 
discover.  We  are  certain  they  were  tombs,  and  in- 
tended for  mortal  eternity  ;  the  casing  exists,  but 
the  dust  of  the  mighty  potentates  who  were  there 
entombed  has  been  abstracted  and  scattered  to  the 
winds.  We  know  that  the  crumbling  bones — even 
the  head  that  devised  one  of  the  monumental  piles 
— and  the  hand  that  wielded  the  scepter  of  sovereign 
command  to  call  together  the  millions  of  his  subjects 
to  construct  it,  are  now  exposed  to  vulgar  gaze  in 
the  city  of  London. 

So  fade  the  transitory  glories  of  this  world. 

Sacred  and  profane  history  inform  us,  that  some  six 
hundred  years  before  our  era,  Nebuchadnezzar,  the 
greatest  monarch  that  then  reigned  on  the  earth,  the 
despotic  master  of  a  vast  empire,  after  surveying  the 
monuments  of  his  genius  and  grandeur,  and  elated 
with  the  intoxication  of  his  state,  exclaimed,  "  Is  not 
this  the  great  Babylon  that  I  have  built  ? "  The  fever- 
ish flush  of  pride  subsiding,  he  mused  on  what  should 
come  to  pass  hereafter,  knowing  that  a  mightier 
conqueror  than  he,  even  Death,  would  come,  and 
level  all  his  greatness.  A  vision  was  vouchsafed  to 
him,  which  the  learned  of  his  own  people  failing  to 
expound,  he  had  recourse  to  one  of  his  Hebrew  cap- 
tives for  its  solution.  The  Prophet  Daniel  showed 
the  mighty  monarch  that  in  his  dream  he  had  seen 
a  great  image,  "  whose  brightness  was  excellent, 
whose  form  was  terrible ; "    that  the  head  of  this 


8  INTRODUCTION. 

image  was  of  fine  gold,  his  breast  and  arms  of  silver, 
and  his  body  and  thighs  of  brass,  his  legs  of  iron, 
and  feet  of  clay  mingled  with  iron ;  that  a  stone  cut 
without  hands  smote  the  image  on  the  feet,  and  that 
the  whole  image  broke,  and  became  like  chaff  before 
the  wind — and  then  the  stone  became  a  mountain, 
and  filled  the  whole  earth.  This  the  prophet  thus 
expounded : — the  king  himself  was  the  head  of  gold ; 
that  after  him  should  come  another  kingdom,  typified 
by  the  silver ;  and  then,  a  third  should  follow,  repre- 
sented by  the  brass,  which  should  bear  rule  over  the 
whole  earth.  Thus,  we  have  seen  the  Persian  over- 
throw the  Babylonian  monarchy,  and  the  Macedonian 
subvert  the  Persian ;  the  Roman  empire  was  shad- 
owed out  in  its  strength,  and  its  decline,  and  fall ; 
the  various  kingdoms  that  arose  out  of  the  ruins 
of  iron-handed  Rome  are  exhibited  by  the  emblems 
clay  and  iron.  The  last  empire,  figured  by  the  stone 
that  had  destroyed  the  image,  is  the  kingdom  of 
Christ.  Christianity  came  not  with  might  and 
power  to  establish  a  kingdom  or  overthrow  a  dynasty ; 
but  its  whole  influence,  spiritual  in  its  nature,  worked 
silently  and  unseen,  and  its  spirit  has  spread  abroad 
over  the  earth,  nor  will  it  rest  till  it  occupies  all 
space  in  the  moral  universe  of  man.  This  mar- 
velous dream,  that  looked  through  such  a  long 
period  of  history,  and  indicated  events  with  a  dis- 
tinctness not  to  be  mistaken,  is  one  of  the  numerous 
convincing  proofs  that  the  Bible  is  too  miraculous  a 
book  to  be  other  than  it  pretends  to  be,  and  that  our 
holy  religion,  after  its  long  night  of  trial,  becoming 
better  understood,  and  more  devoutly  received,  will 
pour  down  its  richest  blessings  on  the  world  in  times 
to  come. 


I 


INTRODUCTION.  9 

The  costly  workmanship  and  lavish  expenditure 
bestowed  by  the  Greeks  on  the  images  of  their  gods 
are  matters  of  wonders  in  our  days.  At  what  period 
the  worship  of  idols  was  introduced  it  is  not  possible 
to  ascertain ;  but  there  is  every  reason  to  induce  a 
belief  that  idolatry  was  common  after  the  deluge ; 
for  it  is  certain  that  the  forefathers  of  Abraham,  as 
also  himself,  were  engaged  in  its  practice.  The 
Hebrews,  who  do  not  appear  ever  to  have  had  a 
form  of  idolatry  of  themselves,  adopted  the  deities 
of  other  lands;  thus,  in  Egypt  they  worshiped 
Egyptian  deities ;  in  Judea,  those  of  the  neighbor- 
ing nations.  In  all  these,  as  far  as  we  can  judge, 
the  deities  were  representatives  of  the  elements. 
From  the  elementary  worship,  the  Greeks,  in  their 
refinement  of  art,  adopted  their  beau-ideal  of  the 
human  form  in  male  or  female  strength  and  beauty : 
as  the  sun  at  Khodes  was  personified  in  the  form  of 
Apollo,  the  most  celebrated  specimen  of  manly 
elegance.  Of  these  sculptured  representations  gal- 
leries and  museums  of  statuary  afford  abundant 
specimens. 

Besides  this  mode  of  honoring  these  deities,  the 
most  splendid  elaborations  of  architecture  were  de- 
voted to  the  temples  in  which  their  gods  were  in- 
voked :  and  among  the  more  renowned  were  those 
to  Jupiter  and  Diana.  These  temples  and  the  idols 
were  swept  away  by  the  besom  of  time,  wielded  by 
the  violent  hands  of  Goth  and  Vandal.  The  cross 
was  in  the  earlier  ages  of  Christianity  elevated  in 
these  ruined  temples ;  to  this  has  succeeded  another 
age  of  darkness,  and  the  crescent  been  reared  in  its 
stead ;  Mohammedan  misrule  will  ere  long  again  give 
place  to  that  faith  which  must  overspread  the  globe, 


10  INTRODUCTION. 

when  the  march  of  mind  and  intellect  shall  enlighten 
these  lands  of  gloom  with  the  knowledge  of  that 
volume  in  which  God  shows  that  in  the  clearest 
manifestation  of  his  will,  he  would  deal  with  us  as 
rational  and  responsible  creatures. 

The  refinement  of  the  Greeks  led  them  to  im- 
prove on  the  vast  mounds  and  pyramidal  tombs  of 
earlier  people,  and  they  perpetuated  the  memory  of 
the  loved  and  honored  in  life  with  costly  fabrics  in 
which  their  ashes  were  entombed.  The  Mausoleum, 
from  its  excessive  magnificence,  as  well  as  for  its  l 
architectural  beauty  and  sculptural  adornment,  be- 
came the  first  to  give  a  name  to  superb  monu- 
ments to  the  dead  in  after-ages. 

Of  the  triumphal  exploits  of  Alexander  of  Mace- 
don,  which  now  but 

"  Point  a  moral  and  adorn  a  tale," 

the  name  given  to  a  city  he  founded  at  the  mouth 
of  the  Nile,  alone  exists.  The  ruins  of  its  extent  and 
magnificence  can  with  difficulty  be  traced;  and  of 
the  far-famed  Pharos  not  one  stone  stands  above 
another, — but  the  site  has  become  a  point  of  in- 
terest, in  rising  from  th"e~  slumber  of  ages  to  be 
again  one  of  the  great  cities  of  transit  on  the  high- 
way of  nations  from  the  western  to  the  eastern 
world.  A  modern  Pharos  of  smaller  dimensions, 
certainly,  has  been  erected  on  the  opposite  point ; 
for  wherever  the  march  of  commerce  requires,  the 
prototypes  of  this  first  of  light-houses  spread  them- 
selves on  every  coast,  to  guide  the  mariner  to  his 
destined  haven. 

The  commercial  spirit  that  leads  the  Anglo-Saxon 
race  to  penetrate  the  wilds  of  the  New  World,  may 


INTRODUCTION.  11 

light  upon  other  buried  cities  of  which  written  history 
gives  no  record.  The  astounding  discoveries  of  gold 
deposits  in  different  parts  of  the  globe,  and  the 
abundant  supplies  of  which  are  now  being  obtained, 
induce  us  to  cease  wondering  at  the  extensive  use 
of  gold  by  the  ancient  nations  we  have  been  led  to 
notice  in  course  of  this  volume,  which  has  often 
heretofore  been  treated  as  fabulous  exaggeration. 

The  recent  discoveries  of  Fellowes  and  Layard 
have  satisfactorily  proved  that  the  statements  of 
certain  Greek  authors  were  not  exaggerations;  and 
the  vast  remains  of  architectural  wonders  that  are 
scattered  throughout,  not  only  in  the  East,  but  also 
buried  in  the  wilds  of  America,  would  almost  seem 
to  corroborate  the  traditions  that  they  were  the 
works  of  past  generations  of  giants. 

Above  thirty  years  ago,  the  eminent  historian 
Niebuhr  offered  an  opinion,  which  Mr.  Layard's 
discoveries  confirm,  as  far  as  one  nation  is  concerned, 
for  which  his  countrymen  may  well  claim  for  him 
the  gift  of  prophecy. 

"  There  is  no  doubt  but  that  Egypt  must  become 
the  possession  of  a  civilized  European  power;  it 
must  sooner  or  later  becofaie  the  connecting  link 
between  England  and  the  East  Indies.  European 
dominion  naturally  supports  science  and  literature, 
together  with  the  rights  of  humanity ;  and  to  prevent 
the  destruction  of  a  barbarous  power  would  be  an 
act  of  high  treason  against  intellectual  culture  and 
humanity.  When  that  shall  have  been  accomplished, 
new  treasures  will  be  brought  to  light,  and  Egyptian 
antiquity  will  be  laid  open  before  our  eyes :  we  stand 
at  the  very  threshold  of  a  new  era  in  the  history  of 
antiquity.     In  Nineveh,  Babylonia,  and  Persia,  cen- 


12  INTRODUCTION. 

turies  long  past  will  come  to  light  again,  and  the 
ancient  times  will  present  themselves  clearly  and 
distinctly  in  all  their  detail.  It  is  true  that  all  those 
nations  are  deficient  in  individuality,  and  in  that 
which  constitutes  the  idea  of  humanity,  and  which 
we  find  among  the  Greeks,  Romans,  and  moderns  ; 
biit  their  conditions  and  changes  will  become  clear. 
In  all  its  details,  the  ancient  world  will  acquire  a 
fresh  reality,  and  fifty  years  hence  essays  will  ap- 
pear on  the  history  of  those  nations,  compared  with 
which  our  present  knowledge  is  like  chemistry  as 
it  was  a  hundred  years  before  the  time  of  Berzelius." 

As  some  of  these  almost  superhuman  fabrics  are 
constantly  brought  before  our  mind's  eye  in  connec- 
tion with  Biblical  history,  and  our  imagination 
every  hour  of  our  existence  raises  some  fresh  topic 
which  awakens  a  rational  curiosity  to  discuss  and 
master  it, — the  compiler  hopes  the  time  of  the 
reader  will  not  be  idly  employed  in  receiving  all  the 
information  that  he  has  here  gathered  respecting 
these  mightiest  of  the  ancient  works  of  man. 

From  the  records  of  the  grandeur  and  wealth  of 
the  cities  and  palaces  here  noticed,  we  may  turn  to 
the  accounts  of  the  barbarous  hordes  who,  from  the 
North,  were  permitted  by  Divine  Providence  to 
ravage  and  destroy  all  these  works  of  the  most 
civilized  countries,  and  like  some  sad  pestilence  sent 
on  earth  as  a  punishment  and  a  warning  for  their 
crimes.  These  "  scourges  of  God,"  as  they  have 
been  justly  termed,  everywhere  marked  their  prog- 
ress by  ruin  and  desolation ;  and  the  sites  of 
populous  cities  are  now  only  recognized  by  blackened 
ruins  and  solitary  columns. 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE 

The  Pyramids , 19 

The  Temple,  the  Walls,  and  Hanging  Gardens  op  Babylon  69 

The  Chryselephantine  Statue  op  Jupiter  Olympius 137 

^'    The  Temple  of  Diana  at  Ephesus 179 

* 

.  ^he  Mausoleum  at  Halicarnassus 209 

The  Pharos  at  Alexandria 243 

The  Colossus  o^Rhodes 265 


illustrations. 


PAQB 

Statue  of  Jupiter  Olympius 2 

Engraved  Title-page 3 

Pyramids  of  Egypt 32 

Babylon < 73 

Temple  of  Diana..  '. 185 

Mausoleum 213 

Pharos  at  Alexandria 245 

Colossus  of  Rhodes 268 


€\t  f  aramiis  of  (fcgapt. 


Beside  the  eternal  Nile 

The  Pyramids  have  riseu : 
Nile  shall  pursue  his  changeless  way ; 

Those  Pyramids  shall  fall ; 
Yea,  not  a  stone  shall  stand  to  tell 

The  spot  whereon  they  stood ; 
Their  very  site  shall  be  forgotten ; 

As  is  the  builder's  name. 


CONTENTS. 


Herodotus's  Account  of  the  Pyramids. 

Egypt. 

The  Approach  from  Cairo. 

The  Interior  of  the  Great  Pyramid. 

Captain  Caviglia's  Investigation. 

The  Ascent. 

The  Second  Pyramid,  and  its  Ascent  by  Mi:.  Wilde. 

The  Third  and  Fourth  Pyramids. 

The  Pyramids  of  Sakkarrah  and  Dashour. 

Graves's  Pyramidographia. 

The  Mexican  Pyramids. 

Other  Pyramujal  Buildings. 

Suggestions  for  the  Origin  of  the  Name. 


T  li  E 


SEVEN  WONDERS  OF  THE  WORLD. 


THE  PYRAMIDS  OF  EGYPT. 

Those  mighty  piles — the  Pyramids — have  over-lived 

The  feeble  generations  of  mankind. 

What  though  unmoved  they  bore  the  deluge  weight, 

Survivors  of  the  ruin'd  world  ? 

What  though  their  founder  fill'd  with  miracles 

And  wealth  miraculous  their  ample  vaults  ? 

The  eternal  Pyramids — the  mystery  of  the  past — 
the  enigma  of  the  present — and  the  enduring  for  the 
future  ages  of  this  world, — standing  at  the  head  of  a 
long  reach  in  the  river  Nile,  directly  in  front  of  the 
traveler,  darkening  the  horizon,  solitary,  grand,  and 
gloomy,  the  only  objects  to  be  seen  in  the  great 
desert  before  him,  are  the  more  impressive  as  being 
not  unfrequently  the  aim  and  end  of  his  journey  to 
the  land  of  Egypt. 

-  The  Pyramids  of  Jizeh  are  the  most  stupendous 
masses  of  building  in  stone  that  human  labor  has  ever 
been  known  1 1  >  acc<  maplish,  and  they  arc  still  standing 
there  to  tell  us,  that  more  than  two  thousand  years 
before  the  Christian  era  the  Egyptians  had  learned 

2 


20     SEVEN  WONDERS  OF  THE  WORLD. 

to  transport  the  heaviest  blocks  of  granite  ever  moved 
out  of  the  quarry  from  Syene  to  the  Delta  of  the 
Nile,  a  land  journey  of  six  hundred,  or  a  voyage  of 
near  seven  hundred  miles  ;  to  cut  and  polish  them 
with  a  precision  and  nicety  we  cannot  even  now  sur- 
pass, and  to  use  them  constructively  with  a  degree  of 
science  unequalled  from  that  day  to  this  ; — besides 
this,  we  know  from  the  contemporary  tombs,  that  at 
that  age  these  remarkable  people  had  fixed  institutions 
in  civil  society,  which  all  tell  of  a  long  anterior  life, 
which  alone  could  have  led  to  such  maturity.  We 
are  indebted  to  .Herodotus,  properly  styled  "  The 
Father  of  History,"  for  the  first  written  account  of 
tl  lose  wondrous  works  of  art.  Herodotus  in  his  thirty- 
ninth  year,  B.  C.  445,  now  within  three  years  of 
twenty-three  centuries  ago,  composed  his  great  and 
only  work  that  has  come  down  to  us  : — This  work, 
which  is  a  history  of  the  wars  of  the  Greeks  and  Per- 
sians from  the  time  of  Cyrus  to  the  battle  of  Mycale, 
in  the  reign  of  Xerxes,  also  gives  an  account  of  the 
most  celebrated  nations  of  the  world,  as  well  as  the 
results  of  his  travels  over  Italy,  Greece,  and  Egypt. 
His  style  abounds  with  elegance  and  ease,  and  he 
candidly  states  what  he  saw  and  what  he  relates  on 
the  narration  of  others. 

He  was  informed  by  the  priests  of  Memphis,  that 
the  Great  Pyramid  was  built  by  Cheops,  a  King  of 
Egypt;  that  one  hundred  thousand  men  were  em- 
ployed twenty  years  in  building  it ;  and  that  the 
body  of  Cheops  was  placed  in  a  room  beneath  the 
bottom  of  the  pyramid ;  that  the  chamber  was  sur- 
rounded by  a  vault,  to  which  the  waters  of  the  Nile 
were  conveyed  by  a  subterranean  tunnel.  The 
second  pyramid  was  built  by  Cephren,  the  brother 


PYRAMIDS   OF   EGYPT.  21 

and  successor  of  Cheops ;  and  the  third  was  erected 
by  Mycerinus,  the  son  of  Cheops. 

Herodotus  goes  on  to  say,  "  that  each  face  of  it 
measures  eight  plethra,  (eight  hundred  Greek  feet,)  it 
being  quadrangular;  and  the  height  is  the  same. 
It  is  made  of  polished  stones,  fitted  together  with 
the  greatest  nicety,  none  of  the  stones  being  less 
than  thirty  feet  long.  The  pyramid  was  made  in  the 
following  manner,  in  the  form  of  steps,  which  some 
call  crosses,  (battlements,)  and  others  bomides,  (little 
altars.)  "When  they  had  built  it  in  this  fashion,  they 
raised  the  remaining  stones  by  machines  or  con- 
trivances of  short  pieces  of  wood.  They  raised  them 
from  the  ground  to  the  first  tier  of  steps,  and  when 
the  stone  had  ascended  to  this  tier,  it  was  placed  on 
the  first  machine  standing  on  the  first  row,  and  from 
this  row  it  was  dragged  upon  the  second  row  on 
another  machine.  As  many  tiers  of  stones  as  there 
were,  so  many  machines  also  there  were  ;  but  accord- 
ing to  another  account  (for  I  think  it  right  to  give 
both  accounts  as  they  were  given  to  me)  they 
transferred  the  same  machine,  it  being  easily  moved, 
from  step  to  step,  as  they  raised  each  stone.  The 
highest  parts  were  accordingly  finished  first,  then 
the  parts  next  to  the  highest,  and  last  of  all  the  parts 
near  the  ground,  and  the  very  bottom.  It  is  worked 
in  Egyptian  characters  on  the  pyramid,  how  much 
was  spent  in  furnishing  the  workmen  with  purges, 
leeks,  and  onions  ;  and  as  I  well  recollect  what  the 
interpreter  said  who  explained  the  characters  to  me, 
it  was  one  thousand  six  hundred  talents  of  silver," 

We  arc  told  by  Herodotus,  that  when  the  Great 
Pyramid  was  designed,  they  began  by  making  a 
causeway,  along  which  to  convey  the  stone.     This 


1  ''■ 


22      SEVEN  WONDEKS  OF  THE  WORLD. 

causeway,  he  states,  was  three  thousand  Greek  feet 
in  length,  sixty  in  breadth,  and  forty-eight  high,  at 
its  greatest  elevation ;  it  was  made  of  highly-polished 
stone,  covered  with  sculptures,  and  in  his  opinion 
was  as  wonderful  a  work  as  the  pyramid  itself. 
When  we  consider  the  length  and  height  of  this 
causeway,  it  is  evident  it  was  an  inclined  plane, 
rising  from  the  level  below  toward  that  on  which 
the  pyramids  stood,  and  forming  the  most  magnifi- 
cent approach  that  ever  was  made  to  the  most  won- 
derful work  of  human  labor.  It  seems  also  prob- 
able, as  the  causeway  commenced  on  the  west  side 
•of  the  canal,  already  alluded  to,  that  the  heavy 
blocks  (if  we  adopt  the  supposition  of  their  being 
brought  from  the  east  side  of  the  Nile)  were  brought 
by  water  to  the  bottom  of  this  inclined  plane,  and 
carried  up  it  to  the  level  above.  There  are  still 
•existing  remains  of  these  causeways  in  several  places, 
particularly  one  leading  to  the  third  pyramid,  eight 
hundred  yards  in  length. 

Egypt  was  one  of  the  countries  earliest  civilized, 
and  brought  into  a  fixed  social  and  political  system. 
The  first  king  mentioned  as  having  reigned  over  the 
country  is  Menes,  whose  era  is  supposed  with 
tolerable  correctness  to  have  been  2200  years  B.  C. 
From  this  time  something  like  a  chronological  series 
has  been  made  out  by  Wilkinson,  in  his  "  General 
Yiew  of  Egypt."  The  immediate  successors  of 
Menes  are  unknown,  until  we  come  to  Suphis  and 
his  brother  or  brothers,  to  whom  the  Great  Pyramid 
is  attributed,  and  who  are  supposed  to  be  the 
same  as  the  Cheops  and  Cephren  of  Herodotus. 
Abraham  visited  Egypt  about  1920  B.  C,  and 
we    have    the    testimony    of  Scripture  as  to  •  the 


PYRAMIDS   OF   EGYPT.  23 

lrigli  and  flourishing  state  of  the  country  at  that 
period. 

Egypt  is  in  every  point  of  view  one  of  the  most 
interesting  regions  in  the  world.  Its  remains  of  art 
are  of  the  most  curious  and  impressive  character ; 
for  the  most  part  they  are  unique,  carrying  us  back 
for  their  origin  to  the  earliest  annals  of  history.  Its 
geography  is  connected  with  both  sacred  and  classic 
writings.  It  may  be  said  that  Egypt  was  the  parent 
of  Grecian  wisdom,  the  inventress  of  science,  the 
oracle  of  nations,  the  fountain-head  of  philosophy, 
in  whose  schools  we  may  be  allowed  to  suppose 
Moses,  Pythagoras,  and  Plato  exhausted  the  treasures 
of  human  learning.  Its  ancient  monuments,  its 
physical  features,  its  geographical  position,  its  pro- 
verbial fertility,  and  its  commercial  importance,  com- 
Tnne  to  render  the  land  of  Egypt,  in  the  eyes  of  the 
scientific  traveler,  the  statesman,  and  the  philanthro- 
pist, one  of  the  most  attractive  parts  of  the  world. 
The  name  by  which  the  country  is  known  to  the 
European,  comes  to  us  from  the  Greeks,  who  derive 
it  from  a  certain  King  ^Egyptus,  the  son  of  Belus. 
In  the  Hebrew  Scriptures  it  is  denominated  the  land 
of  Mizraim  or  Mitsraim,  and  the  Arabians  and  other 
eastern  people  still  know  it  by  Mesr  or  Misr  ; — the 
Coptic  name  of  Old  Cairo  is  now  Mistraim. 

Taking,  therefore,  the  Holy  Scriptures  for  our 
guide,  we  must  be  led  to  believe  the  ancient  Egyp- 
tians were  the  Mizraimites,  and  the  posterity  of  Ham. 
We  conclude  that  Egypt  was  peopled  by  a  branch 
of  the  Caucasian  race,  as  the  chronology  of  the 
Egyptian  figures  on  the  most  ancient  tombs  testifies. 
The  first  settlement  of  their  race  was  the  country 
nearest  to  Asia,  as  the  oldest  vestiges  are  at  Thebes, 


24  SEVEN   WONDERS   OF  THE   WORLD. 

and  from  thence  they  wandered  down  the  Nilotic 
valley. 

The  same  holy  annals,  and  tradition  likewise,  assert 
that  the  first  parents  of  mankind  were  placed  in  Asia, 
and  from  thence,  in  process  of  time,  increasing  num- 
bers required  new  lands  ;  their  progress  was  need- 
fully slow,  such  as  we  may  suppose,  with  a  pastoral 
people,  incumbered  with  wives  and  children,  flocks 
and  herds,  it  would  necessarily  be.  Whether  this 
migration  was  anterior  or  posterior  to  the  dispersion, 
is  of  no  import ;  we  may  recognize  the  all- wise  hand 
of  Providence,  accomplishing  by  natural  instru- 
ments, and  according  to  immutable  organic  laws, 
the  object  of  man's  creation.  Whether  or  not  the 
first  settlers  in  the  valley  of  the  Nile  brought  with 
them  any  knowledge  of  the  arts  of  civil  life,  to  pre- 
serve our  confidence  in  Scripture  chronology,  their 
progress  must  have  been  amazingly  rapid,  for  within 
a  few  generations  of  Mizraim  we  find  monuments 
that  attest  a  skill  in  the  arts,  an  acquaintance  with 
practical  science,  a  profound  knowledge  of  political 
economy  and  principles  of  government,  and  an  ex- 
tent of  civilization  equal  to  that  existing  in  Egypt 
at  any  after-period  of  history.  Of  their  high  social 
condition  we  have  incontestable  evidence,  that  the 
female  sex  was  honored  and  educated,  and  free  as 
among  ourselves  ;  and  this  is  a  most  unanswerable 
proof  of  the  advanced  civilization  of  this  ancient 
people. 

Among  the  ruin'd  temples  there, 
Stupendous  columns,  and  wild  images 
Of  more  than  man,  whei'e  marble  demons  watch 
The  Zodiac's  brazen  mystery,  and  dead  men 
Hang  their  mute  thoughts  on  the  mute  walls  around, 


PYRAMIDS    OF   EGYTT.  25 

The  philosopher  linger'd,  poring  on  memorials 
Of  the  world's  youth ;  through  the  long  burning  day 
Gazed  on  those  speechless  shapes,  nor,  when  the  moon 
Fill'd  the  mysterious  halls  with  floating  shades 
Suspended  he  that  task,  but  ever  gazed, 
And  gazed,  till  morning  on  his  vacant  mind 
Flash'd  like  strong  inspiration,  and  he  saw 
The  thrilling  secrets  of  the  birth  of  Time. 

The  land  of  Egypt  may  be  described  as  an  immense 
valley,  terminating  in  a  delta,  or  triangular  plain 
of  alluvial  formation,  being,  from  Syene  to  the  shores 
of  the  Mediterranean,  about  six  hundred  miles  in 
length,  and  of  various  widths.  From  Syene  to  Cairo, 
a  distance  of  about  five  hundred  miles,  the  valley  is 
about  eight  miles  broad,  hemmed  in  by  two  moun- 
tain ridges,  the  one  extending  eastward  to  the  Red 
Sea,  and  the  other  terminating  westward  in  the 
Libyan  deserts. 

The  mountains  which  form  the  natural  boundaries 
of  the  Egyptian  valley  are,  on  many  accounts,  highly 
deserving  of  attention.  From  them,  under  the 
Pharaohs,  the  Ptolemies,  and  the  Antonines,  were 
drawn  the  materials,  not  only  of  the  stupendous 
monuments  which  still  make  Egypt  a  land  of  wonders, 
but  also  for  many  of  the  public  buildings  in  Italy, 
the  remains  of  which  attest  the  genius  of  the  Roman 
artists  and  the  munificence  of  the  emperors.  About 
the  24th  degree  of  N.  latitude,  a  granitic  chain  closes 
in  on  each  side  of  the  river,  so  as  to  wear  the  ap- 
pearance of  having  been  rent  by  the  stream,  which 
forces  its  way  through  fragments  of  rock.  Hence, 
the  almost  innumerable  islands  to  the  north  of  Philse, 
as  far  as  Aswan,  (Assouan.)  The  cataracts  a  little  to 
the  south  of  that  town  are  nothing  more  than  rapids, 
which  might  arise  from  a  contraction  of  the  bed  of 


26  SEVEN   WONDERS   OF   THE   WORLD. 

the  stream;  there  is,  however,  most  probably,  in 
that  tract  of  country,  a  considerable  change  in  the 
level  of  the  soil.  The  bold,  but  wild  and  gloomy 
precipices  which  here  overhang  the  stream,  as  well 
as  the  roar  of  its  waters  rushing  through  a  multitude 
of  channels,  (for,  even  when  the  inundation  is  at  its 
height,  there  are  twenty  large  islands  in  the  midst 
of  the  river,)  were  well  calculated  to  work  upon  the 
imagination  of  the  early  inhabitants;  and  their  be- 
lief that  Osiris  remained  buried  in  those  abysses  as 
long  as  the  stream  was  confined  within  its  banks, 
but  rose  from  the  grave  to  scatter  his  blessings  over 
the  land  as  soon  as  the  accumulated  waters  were 
poured  forth  on  all  sides,  was  fostered,  if  not  created, 
by  the  physical  peculiarities  of  this  overawing 
though  desolate  region.  The  granite,  or  southern 
district,  extends  from  Philse  to  Aswan,  (in  lat. 
24°  8'  6"  K ;  long.  33°  4'  E.,)  and  is  formed,  for  the 
most  part,  by  rocks  of  Syenite  or  oriental  granite, 
in  which  the  quarries  may  yet  be  seen,  from  which 
the  ancients  drew  the  stupendous  masses  required 
for  their  colossal  statues  and  obelisks.  Between 
Aswan  and  Esne  (in  lat.  25°  19'  39"  N.)  is  the  sand- 
stone, or  middle  district,  which  supplied  slabs  for 
most  of  the  temples ;  and  beyond  it  the  northern,  or 
calcareous  district,  stretches  to  the  southern  angle 
of  the  Delta.  This  last  chain  of  hills  furnished  not 
only  the  solid  part  of  the  pyramids,  but  materials 
also  for  many  public  buildings,  long  since  destroyed, 
because  they  proved  excellent  stores  of  lime  and 
stone  for  the  Arabs  and  other  barbarians  by  whom 
Egypt  had  been  desolated  for  so  many  centuries.  The 
steep,  perpendicular  cliffs  of  this  calcareous  rock 
give  a  monotonous  and  unpicturesque  aspect  to  this 


PYRAMIDS   OF   EGYPT.  27 

part  of  Egypt;  while  the  boldness  and  grotesque 
forms  of  the  mountains  in  the  south  offer  new  points 
of  view  in  continual  succession,  even  when  the  in- 
undation is  its  greatest  height. 

On  each  side  of  the  river  below  Aswan,  very 
steep,  abrupt  sandstone  cliffs,  presenting  a  continued 
line  of  ancient  quarries,  hem  in  the  stream ;  and  the 
valley,  which  opens  gradually,  closes  again  at  the 
distance  of  twelve  leagues,  (about  thirty-six  geo- 
graphical miles,)  where  it  is  reduced  to  one-fourth  of 
its  former  width ;  and  lofty  walls  of  rock  on  each  side 
barely  leave  a  passage  for  the  water.  This  is  now 
called  Jehel-el-jSilsileh,  (Mountain  of  the  Chain ;) 
and  from  its  quarries  the  materials  used  in  the 
temples  at  Thebes  were  drawn.  Below  these  narrows 
the  valley  gradually  widens,  but  the  eastern  bank 
continues  to  present  one  uninterrupted  perpendicular 
wall,  while,  on  the  west,  there  is  a  gradual,  and 
generally  an  easy  ascent  to  the  desert.  Another 
contraction  of  the  valley  occurs  about  fifty-six  geo- 
graphical miles  lower  down,  ten  miles  to  the  north 
of  Esne,  where  the  rock  does  not  leave  even  a 
footpath  near  the  river,  and  the  traveler  by  land 
must  make  a  considerable  circuit  in  order  to  reach 
the  place  where  the  hills,  for  the  third  time,  recede. 
This  passage,  called  Jehelein,  (the  two  hills,)  leads  to 
the  plains  of  Ermont  and  Thebes,  (in  lat.  25°  44'  ~N. ;) 
for  here  the  land  on  each  side  of  the  river  spreads 
out  into  so  wide  a  level  as  really  to  form  a  plain,  in 
comparison  with  the  rugged  banks  of  the  stream 
higher  up.  It  is  at  this  place  that  the  sandstone 
terminates,  and  the  freestone  begins.  The  banks 
are  no  longer  straight  and  parallel,  but  diverge  in 
various  directions,  forming  many  bays  and  creeks ; 


28  SEVEN   WONDERS   OF  THE   WORLD. 

while  the  country,  rising  on  each  side  almost  im- 
perceptibly toward  the  hills,  presents  a  nearly  even 
surface  of  cultivable  soil  about  two  leagues  in  width. 
This,  which  is  the  first  level  of  any  extent  below  the 
cataracts,  is  the  site  of  the  most  ancient  and  cele- 
brated capital  of  Egypt,  Thebes  ;  the  ruins  of  which 
cover  a  large  proportion  of  the  valley.  It  is  remark- 
able, that  the  distance  from  Thebes  to  the  cataracts, 
one  extremity  of  the  country,  is  exactly  the  same  as 
that  between  Memphis,  the  subsequent  capital,  and 
the  sea,  the  other  extremity ;  namely,  forty  leagues, 
or  one  hundred  and  twenty  geographical  miles. 
The  calcareous  chain  continues  from  this  point,  on 
each  side  of  the  valley,  to  the  head  of  the  Delta, 
where  the  hills  open  to  the  east  and  west,  uniting 
with  the  Libyan  chain  on  one  side,  and  bending 
toward  the  mountains  of  Arabia  Petrsea  on  the 
other.  This  chain,  though  generally  calcareous,  is 
occasionally,  especially  near  the  desert,  broken  by 
isolated  rocks  of  sandstone. 

At  Denderah,  (Tentyris,)  twelve  leagues  K  of 
Thebes,  the  Nile,  again  hemmed  in  by  the  hills, 
turns  nearly  at  right  angles,  and  runs  directly  from 
east  to  west  as  far  as  the  site  of  Abydus,  (Medfun, 
or  El  Birba,)  where  it  resumes  its  northerly  direc- 
tion, and,  entering  another  spacious  and  fertile  val- 
ley, passes  by  Jirjeh  and  Osyut,  (or  Siout.)  Near 
the  latter  place,  the  Libyan  chain  begins  to  bend 
toward  the  west ;  and  the  descent  from  the  desert 
becomes  so  gradual,  that  the  country  is  on  that  side 
much  exposed  to  clouds  of  sand,  by  which  it  would 
have  been  overwhelmed  long  since,  but  for  the 
canal  called  Bahr  Ynsuf,  (Joseph's  Eiver,)  which 
secures  the  irrigation  of  the  land  between  itself  and 


PYRAMIDS   OF   EGYPT.  29 

the  Nile,  and  thus  prevents  the  further  encroach- 
ment of  the  desert.  Here  the  Said,  or  upper  division 
of  Egypt,  terminates,  and  the  Wustani,  or  middle 
region,  extending  as  far  as  the  fork  of  the  Delta, 
commences.  The  more  the  valley  of  the  Nile  gains 
in  width,  and  the  western  mountains  lose  in  height, 
the  greater  is  the  danger  from  its  proximity  to  the 
Libyan  desert.  That  remarkable  portion  of  Africa 
(El  Sahra)  is,  for  the  most  part,  covered  with  sand 
or  very  fine  gravel,  the  minuter  particles  of  which 
are,  at  certain  seasons,  carried  by  tempestuous  gales 
over  a  great  extent  of  country.  It  is  manifest,  that 
the  less  ground  is  cultivated,  the  fewer  the  trees  and 
shrubs  it  bears,  and  the  more  its  irrigation  is  neglect- 
ed, the  more  rapidly  will  the  sand  from  the  desert 
encroach  on  the  plains  or  valleys  near  the  river. 
The  cultivable  tracts,  therefore,  in  the  middle  and 
lower  Egypt,  have  long  been  dayly  decreasing ;  and 
were  it  not  for  the  canal  just  mentioned,  few  spots 
uncovered  by  sand  would  have  remained  on  the 
western  bank  of  the  Nile. 

Beyond  Beni-Suweif,  (in  lat.  29°  9'  12"  N.,)  the 
Libyan  chain  of  hills  again  closes  in  toward  the 
N.  E.,  and  forms  the  northern  boundary  of  the  large 
basin  between  Derut-el-Sherif  and  Atfih;  but  at 
El  llahun,  to  the  N.  W.  of  the  former,  it  is  broken 
by  one  of  the  many  transverse  valleys,  and  thus 
opens  a  passage  into  the  province  of  Fayyum,  (or 
Fayoum.)  Beyond  that  vale,  which  is  merely  a 
large  bay  or  sinuosity  in  the  border  of  these  moun- 
tains, they  approach  the  river  with  a  steeper  de- 
clivity, and  have  a  nearly  level  summit  overlooking 
the  country  below.  This  tableland,  between  the 
Nile  and  Fayyum,  was  chosen  for  the  site  of  the 


30     SEVEN  WONDERS  OF  THE  WORLD. 

pyramids.  On  its  north-western  side,  the  hills  shelve 
off  in  that  direction,  and  terminate  in  the  cliffs  and 
promontories  which  mark  the  coast  of  ancient  Cy- 
renaica.  The  eastern  or  Arabian  chain  has  generally 
more  transverse  breaks  and  ravines,  is  more  lofty 
and  rugged,  and  comes  closer  to  the  river,  than  the 
hills  on  the  opposite  side.  The  northern  part  of  it 
is  called  El  MoJcattam,  (the  hewn,)  probably  from 
the  quarries  formed  in  its  sides,  and  is  conncted  by 
several  inferior  ranges  with  the  mountains  of  Arabia 
Petrsea. 

Of  the  transverse  valleys  leading  to  the  Red  Sea, 
the  best  known  are,  the  Valley  of  Cosseir,  and  that 
of  the  Wanderings  of  the  Children  of  Israel :  the 
former  is  the  most  frequented  road  between  the  Up- 
per Egypt  and  the  sea,  and  the  latter  the  route  pro- 
bably followed  by  the  Israelites  on  their  return  to 
the  promised  land.  But,  besides  these,  there  are 
five  or  six  others  at  present  known,  and  several, 
probably,  unexplored. '  Some  were  much  frequented 
anciently,  which  are  now  rarely  if  ever  visited :  such 
have  been  the  ruinous  consequences  of  misgovern- 
ment,  by  which  the  commerce  of  Egypt  has  dwindled 
to  almost  nothing.  Towns  upon  the  Red  Sea,  once 
flourishing  emporiums,  have  ceased  to  exist;  and 
Berenice,  anciently  celebrated  for  its  wealth  and 
commerce,  is  now  so  completely  forgotten,  that  even 
the  road  to  it  was  unknown  till  traced  a  few  years 
ago  by  MM.  Cailliaud  and  Belzoni.  The  narrow 
ravines  between  the  hills  on  the  western  side  were, 
till  very  lately,  equally  unknown,  though  the  Oases, 
and  the  roads  leading  to  them,  were  described  by 
the  Greeks  and  Arabs.  Two  lead  from  Jirjeh  and 
Esne  into  the  greater  Oasis,  {EL  Wah-el-kharijeh,) 


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PYRAMIDS    OF    EGYPT. 


PYRAMIDS   OF   EGYPT.  33 

and  one  from  Fayyum  into  the  smaller,  {El  Wah-el- 
dal-hileh.)  On  the  western  side  of  the  Delta,  the 
direction  of  the  valleys  is  nearly  from  S.  E.  to  N.W. ; 
and  Siyah,  or  Shantariyyeh,  the  Oasis  of  Ammon, 
is  connected  with  Egypt  by  branches  which  diverge 
more  toward  the  west,  from  the  Bah?*  Bilama, 
(Waterless  Sea,)  i.  e.  the  celebrated  desert  called 
Scete,  or  the  Valley  of  Natron. 

The  traveler,  in  general,  first  obtains  a  fair  view 
of  the  pyramids  from  the  city  of  Grand  Cairo,  on  the 
east  bank  of  the  Nile,  at  a  distance  of  about  five 
miles  in  a  straight  line.     We  are  told  that  the  first 
view  does  not  strike  the  traveler  with  the  idea  of 
grandeur,  any  more  than  a  hill  of  moderate  dimen- 
sions when  seen  -at  a  small  distance :    comparison 
being  essential  for   a  proper  conception  of  these 
wondrous  fabrics,  we  have  no  standard  to  measure 
them ;  and  for  this  reason  the  pyramids  do  not  equal 
the  expectations  formed  by  any  spectator  who  sees 
them  for  the  first  time.     The  clearness  of  the  atmos- 
phere, which  defines  their  angles  so  sharply,  and 
the  want  of  some  suitable  measure  of  size,  sufficiently 
account  for  this.     But  still  there  are  other  impres- 
sions that  serve  to  give  some  idea  of  the  enormous 
mass  of  these  objects;  and  at  the  distance  of  four 
or  five  miles  they  seem  close  at  hand ;  and  the  tra- 
veler, as  he  advances,  has  time  to  reflect  on  the 
magnitude  of  the  object  which  has  given  him  so 
erroneous  an  idea  of  distance.     This  impression  is 
caused  partly  by  their  magnitude,  partly  by  their 
forms.     Being  large  undivided  masses  of  four  equal 
sides,  there  are  no  small  parts  for  the  eye  to  dwell 
upon,  as  in  ordinary  temples,  where  the  indistinct- 
ness of  particular  portions  serves  to  correct  false  im- 


34      SEVEN  WONDERS  OF  THE  WOKLD. 

pressions  of  distance,  which  it  is  the  tendency  of  the 
whole  mass  to  produce. 

When  the  inundation  of  the  Nile  is  at  its  height, 
a  very  circuitous  route  to  the  pyramids  becomes 
necessary,  near  twenty  miles;  but  this  journey  is 
described  as  a  most  agreeable  one,  leading  at  times 
through  woods  of  palm  and  date-trees,  or  over  bar- 
ren and  sandy  tracts,  without  a  vestige  of  verdure 
or  population.  The  Nile  in  its  overflow  encompass- 
es villages  and  their  groups  of  trees,  and  amid  the 
waters  rises  occasionally  a  lonely  palm.  Here  a 
hamlet  seems  floating  on  the  wave,  above  which 
hangs  the  foliage  and  fruit  of  various  trees,  and 
there  are  seen  hills  of  sand,  rocks,  and  ruins  of 
temples,  looking  as  so  many  beacons  in  the  watery 
waste. 

For  want  of  some  neighboring  object  with  which 
to  compare  this  immense  pile,  no  adequate  idea  is 
formed  of  its  real  dimensions  till  the  traveler,  on 
arriving  at  its  base,  measures  its  length  by  his  steps, 
and  finds  the  first  tier  of  stones  even  with  his 
chest. 

The  quantity  of  stone  used  in  this  pyramid  is 
estimated  at  six  millions  of  tons, — which  is  just  three 
times  that  of  the  vast  breakwater  thrown  across 
Plymouth  Sound  ;  and,  as  we  are  told,  one  hundred 
thousand  men  were  for  twenty  years  employed  in 
building  this  empty  sepulcher,  and  the  whole  of  the 
material  of  the  structure  was  brought  from  above 
Thebes,  in  Upper  Egypt. 

In  the  hazy  light  of  early  morning,  the  first  view 
of  the  pyramids  appears  like  a  mountain  of  singular 
shape,  inclining  on  one  side,  as  if  its  foundation  had 
partially  given  way.     Approaching  nearer,  and  the 


PYRAMIDS   OF  EGYPT.  35 

objects  become  distinct,  the  three  great  pyramids, 
and  one  smaller  one,  are  in  view,  towering  higher 
and  higher  above  the  plain,  and  when  the  traveler 
is  above  a  mile  distant,  he  is  impressed  with  the 
feeling  that  he  can  touch  them;  on  nearer  approach, 
the  gigantic  dimensions  grow  upon  him,  and,  looking 
up  their  sloping  sides  to  the  lofty  summits,  he  be- 
comes sensible  of  the  enormous  magnitude  of  the 
mass  above  him. 

The  severe  simplicity  of  form,  and  the  sublime 
purity  of  design,  combined  with  solidity  of  con- 
struction, create  a  sensation  of  awe  when  the  trav- 
eler gazes  on  the  mass,  each  side  of  the  base  of 
which,  measured  round  the  stones  let  into  the  rock, 
is  seven  hundred  and  sixty -five  feet ;  covering  a  sur- 
face of  about  eleven  acres. 

Never  can  the  impression  made  by  their  ap- 
pearance on  the  mind  of  the  traveler  be  obliterated. 
When  reflecting  the  sun's  rays,  they  appear  as  white 
as  snow,  and  of  such  surprising  magnitude,  that 
nothing  he  had  previously  conceived  in  imagination 
can  prepare  him  for  the  spectacle  he  beholds.  The 
sight  instantly  convinces  him  that  no  power  of  de- 
scription, no  delineation,  can  convey  ideas  adequate 
to  the  effect  produced  in  viewing  these  stupendous 
monuments.  The  formality  of  their  structure  is  lost 
in  their  prodigious  magnitude ;  the  mind,  elevated 
by  wonder,  feels  at  once  the  force  of  an  axiom, 
which,  however  disputed,  experience  confirms,- — ■ 
that  in  vastness,  whatever  be  its  nature,  there  dwells 
sublimity.  Another  proof  of  their  indescribable 
power  is,  that  no  one  can  approach  them  under 
other  emotions  than  those  of  terror,  which  is  another 
principle  of  the  sublime.     In  certain  instances  of 


36     SEVEN  WONDERS  OF  THE  WORLD. 

irritable  feeling,  the  impression  of  awe  and  fear  has 
been  so  great  as  to  cause  pain  rather  than  pleasure ; 
hence,  perhaps,  have  originated  descriptions  of  the 
pyramids  which  represent  them  as  deformed  and 
gloomy  masses,  without  taste  or  beauty.  Persons 
who  have  derived  no  satisfaction  from  the  contem- 
plation of  these  marvelous  works  of  man's  labor, 
may  not  have  been  conscious  that  the  uneasiness 
they  experienced  was  a  result  of  their  own  sensibili- 
ty ;  others  have  acknowledged  ideas  widely  different, 
excited  by  every  wonderful  circumstance  of  charac- 
ter and  situation, — ideas  of  duration,  almost  endless; 
of  power,  inconceivable;  of  majesty,  supreme;  of 
solitude,  almost  awful ;  of  grandeur,  of  desolation, 
and  repose. 

When  near  the  base  of  the  great  pyramid,  the 
effect  of  its  prodigious  magnitude,  and  the  amaze- 
ment caused  in  surveying  the  enormous  masses  of 
stone  used  in  its  construction,  create  an  impression 
of  awe  and  fear  rather  than  of  pleasure.  It  is  im- 
possible that  persons  susceptible  of  any  feeling  of 
sublimity  can  behold  them  unmoved.  The  specta- 
tor surveys  with  amazement  the  vast  surface  pre- 
sented to  his  sight  in  this  stupendous  monument, 
which  seems  to  reach  the  clouds.  The  Arab  guides 
appear  like  pigmies  scattered  upon  the  immense 
masses.  Even  walking  round  it  and  looking  up 
from  its  base,  the  spectator  does  not  feel  its  immen- 
sity till  he  has  commenced  the  ascent;  then  stop- 
ping to  breathe,  and  looking  down,  he  sees  men 
dwindled  into  insect  size;  and  looking  up  at  the 
great  distance  between  himself  and  the  summit,  he 
then  realizes  in  all  their  force  the  huge  dimensions 
of  this  giant  work.     It  takes  about  twenty  or  thirty 


PYRAMIDS   OF   EGYPT.  37 

minutes  to  ascend  the  great  pyramid  with  the  assist- 
ance of  the  Arabs. 

It  is  not  what  it  once  was  to  go  to  the  pyramids. 
They  have  become  regular  lions  to  multitudes  of 
travelers  from  all  parts  of  the  world ;  but  still,  com- 
mon as  the  journey  is,  no  man  can  stand  on  the  top 
of  the  great  pyramid  of  Cheops,  and  look  out  upon 
the  dark  mountain  of  Mokattam,  bordering  the 
Arabian  desert, — upon  the  ancient  city  of  the 
Pharaohs,  its  domes,  its  mosques,  and  minarets,  glit- 
tering in  the  light  of  a  vertical  sun, — upon  the  rich 
valley  of  the  Nile  and  the  river  of  Egypt  rolling  at 
his  feet, — the  long  range  of  pyramids  and  tombs 
extending  along  the  edge  of  the  desert  to  the  ruined 
city  of  Memphis,  and  the  boundless  and  eternal 
sands  of  Africa, — without  considering  that  moment 
an  epoch  not  to  be  forgotten ;  thousands  of  years 
roll  through  his  mind,  and  thought  recalls  the  men 
who  built  them,  their  mysterious  uses, — the  poets, 
historians,  philosophers,  and  warriors,  who  have 
gazed  upon  them  with  a  wonder  like  his  own. 

It  is  remarked,  that  he  who  has  stood  on  the 
summit  of  this  most  ancient,  and  yet  most  mighty 
monument  of  man's,  power  and  pride,  and  has  looked 
round  to  the  far  horizon  where  Libya  and  Arabia 
lie  silent,  and  has  seen  at  his  feet  the  land  of 
Egypt,  dividing  their  dark  solitude  with  a  narrow 
vale,  beautiful  and  green,  the  mere  enameled  setting 
of  one  solitary,  shining  river, — must  receive  impres- 
sions which  he  can  never  convey,  for  he  can  never 
define  them  himself.  Amid  all  the  uncertainty 
which  hangs  over  the  design,  and  date,  and  builders 
of  this  vast  pile,  this  one  thing  we  know, — that  the  \ 
chief,  and  the  philosopher,  and  the  poet  of  times  of ' 

3 


38      SEVEN  WONDEKS  OP  THE  WOULD. 

old,  have  certainly  been  here ;  that  Alexander  has 
spurred  his  war-horse  to  its  base ;  and  Pythagoras, 
with  naked  foot,  has  probably  stood  on  its  summit. 

Belzoni,  who  ascended  the  great  pyramid,  says : — 
"  We  went  there  to  sleep,  that  we  might  ascend  the 
first  pyramid  early  enough  in  the  morning  to  see 
the  rising  of  the  sun ;  and  accordingly  we  were  on 
the  top  of  it  long  before  the  dawn  of  day.  The 
scene  here  is  majestic  and  grand — far  beyond  de- 
scription ;  a  mist  over  the  plains  of  Egypt  formed  a 
vail,  which  ascended  and  vanished  gradually  as  the 
sun  rose  and  unvailed  to  the  view  the  beautiful 
land,  once  the  site  of  Memphis.  The  distant  view 
of  the  smaller  pyramids  on  the  south  marked  the 
extension  of  that  vast  capital;  while  the  solemn, 
endless  spectacle  of  the  desert  on  the  west  inspired 
us  with  reverence  for  the  all-powerful  Creator.  The 
fertile  lands  on  the  north,  with  the  serpentine  course 
of  the  Nile,  descending  toward  the  sea ;  the  rich 
appearance  of  Cairo,  and  its  numerous  minarets,  at 
the  foot  of  the  Mokattam  mountain  on  fhe  east ;  the 
beautiful  plain  which  extends  from  the  pyramids 
to  that  city;  the  Nile,  which  flows  magnificently 
through  the  center  of  the  sacred  valley;  and  the 
thick  groves  of  palm-trees  under  our  eyes ;  altogether 
formed  a  scene  of  which  very  imperfect  ideas  can 
be  given  by  the  most  elaborate  description." 

In  order  to  convey  some  notion  of  the  size  and 
extent  of  the  great  pyramid,  it  may  be  said  that  the 
base  is  five  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  square  feet ; 
and  its  height  four  hundred  and  seventy-four  feet, 
or  one  hundred  and  fourteen  feet  higher  than  the 
top  of  the  cross  surmounting  St.  Paul's  Cathedral  at 
London ;  the  height,  in  its  complete  state,  was  five 


PYRAMIDS   OF  EGYPT.  39 

hundred  and  two  feet.  The  pyramid  consists  of  a 
series  of  platforms,  each  of  which'  is  smaller  than 
the  one  on  which  it  rests,  and  consequently  presents 
the  appearance  of  steps,  which  diminish  in  length 
from  the  bottom  to  the  top.  Of  these  steps  there 
are  two  hundred  and  three,  and  the  height  of  them 
decreases,  but  not  regularly,  from  the  bottom  to  the 
top,  the  greatest  height  being  nearly  four  feet  eight 
inches,  and  the  least  rather  more  than  one  foot  eight 
inches.  The  horizontal  lines  of  the  platforms  are 
perfectly  straight,  and  the  stones  are  cut  and  fitted 
to  each  other  with  the  greatest  nicety,  and  joined 
by  a  cement  of  lime  with  but  little  sand  in  it.  It 
has  been  ascertained  that  a  bed,  eight  inches  deep, 
has  been  cut  in  the  rock  to  receive  the  lowest  ex- 
ternal course  of  stones.  The  vertical  height,  meas- 
ured from  this  base  in  the  rock  to  the  top  of  the 
highest  platform  now  remaining,  is  four  hundred 
and  fifty-six  feet.  This  platform  has  an  area  of 
about  one  thousand  and  sixty-seven  square  feet,  each 
side  being  thirty-two  feet  eight  inches ;  it  consists  of 
six  square  blocks  of  stone,  irregularly  disposed,  on 
which  the  knives  of  visitors  have  been  ambitiously 
employed  in  sculpturing  their  names ;  among  which 
there  are  some  in  Greek,  a  few  in  Arabic,  many  in 
French,  and  two  or  three  in  English.  It  is  supposed 
that  eight  or  nine  of  the  layers  of  stone  have  been 
thrown  down,  although  there  is  now  no  trace  of 
cement  on  the  surface  of  the  highest  tier;  but 
Gemelli,  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  years  since, 
gave  the  number  of  steps  two  hundred  and  eight, 
the  height  five  hundred  and  twenty-eight  feet,  and 
the  area  of  the  summit  sixteen  feet  eiffht  inches 

a*  & 

square. 


40  SEVEN   WONDERS    OF   THE   WORLD. 

The  entrance  of  the  great  pyramid  is  on  the  north 
face,  forty-seven  feet  above  the  base ;  it  is  nearly  in 
the  center.    The  sands  of  the  desert  have  encroached 
upon  it,  and,  with  the  fallen  stones  and  rubbish, 
have  buried  it  to  the  sixteenth  step.    Climbing  over 
this  rubbish,  the  entrance  is  reached,  a  narrow  pas- 
sage of  three  and  a  half  feet  square,  lined  with  broad 
blocks  of  polished  granite,  descending,  in  the  inte- 
rior, at  an  angle  of  twenty-seven  degrees,  for  about 
one  hundred  feet;  then  the  passage  turns  to  the 
right,  and  winds  up  a  steep  ascent  of  eight  or  nine 
feet,  falling  into  a  natural  passage,  five  feet  high 
and  one  hundred  feet  long,  forming  a  continued 
ascent  to  a  sort  of  landing-place ;  in  a  small  recess 
of  this  is  the  orifice,  or  shaft,  called  the  well ;  it  was 
by  this  shaft  that  the  workmen  descended,  after 
they  had  closed  the  lower  end  of  the  upper  passage, 
which  was  done  with  blocks  of  granite ;  and  having 
gone  down  by  the  well,  and  reached  the  lower  pas- 
sage, they  followed  it  upward  to  the  mouth,  which 
they  also  closed  in  the  same  manner.    But  those  who 
opened  the  pyramid,  in  order  to  avoid  the  granite 
blocks  at  the  junctions  of  the  two  passages,  forced 
a  way  through  the  side ;  and  it  is  by  this  you  now 
ascend  in  going  to  the  great  gallery.     The  quality 
of  the  granite  was  carefully  concealed  by  a  triangu- 
lar piece  of  limestone  fitted  into  the  ceiling  of  the 
passage ;  its  falling  betrayed  the  secret,  by  expos- 
ing the  granite.     Moving  onward  through  a  long 
passage,  the  explorer  comes  to  what  is  called  the 
Queen's  Chamber,  seventeen  feet  long,  seventeen 
feet  wide,  and  twelve  feet  high.     From  this  cham- 
ber, or  crypt,  there  is,  by  another  way,  an  entrance 
to   another   opening,   now    cumbered   with   fallen 


PYRAMIDS   OF   EGYPT.  41 

stones.  Ascending  above  this,  by  a  gallery  or  an 
inclined  plane,  lined  with  highly-polished  granite, 
and  about  one  hundred  and  twenty  feet  in  length, 
you  enter  the  King's  Chamber,  thirty-seven  feet 
long,  seventeen  feet  wide,  and  twenty  feet  in  height. 
The  walls  of  this  chamber  are  of  red  granite,  highly 
polished,  each  stone  reaching  from  the  floor  to  the 
ceiling;  and  the  ceiling  is  formed  of  nine  large 
slabs  of  polished  granite,  extending  from  wall  to 
wall.  At  one  end  of  the  chamber  stands  a  sarcoph- 
agus, also  of  red  granite ;  its  length  is  seven  feet 
four  inches  by  three  feet,  being  only  three  inches 
less  than  the  doorway.  Here  is  supposed  to  have 
slept  one  of  the  great  rulers  of  the  earth,  the  king  of 
the  then  greatest  kingdom  of  the  world,  the  proud 
mortal  for  whom  this  mighty  structure  was  raised. 
Where  is  he  now  ?  even  his  dry  bones  are  gone ! 
torn  away  by  rude  hands,  and  scattered  by  the 
winds  of  heaven.  There  is  something  curious  about 
this  sarcophagus ;  it  being  so  near  the  size  of  the 
orifice  which  forms  the  entrance  of  the  pyramid,  it 
could  hardly  have  been  conveyed  to  its  place  by 
any  of  the  now  known  passages ;  we  must,  con- 
sequently, conclude  it  was  deposited  during  the 
building,  or  before  the  passage  was  finished  in  its 
present  state. 

It  is  not  the  least  interesting  part  of  a  visit  to  the 
interior  of  the  pyramids,  as  you  are  groping  your 
way  after  the  Arab  guide,  to  feel  your  hand  run- 
ning along  the  sides  of  an  enormous  shaft,  smooth 
and  polished  to  the  highest  state  of  art,  and  to  see 
by  the  light  of  a  flowing  torch  chambers  of  red 
granite  from  the  cataracts  of  the  Nile,  the  enormous 
blocks  of  which,  prepared  with  so  much  care,  were 


42  SEVEN   WONDERS   OF  THE   WORLD. 

then  carefully  sealed  up,  so  as  not  to  be  visited  by- 
mortal  eyes. 

In  1817,  Captain  Caviglia,  an  Italian,  thoroughly 
investigated  the  interior  of  the  great  pyramid,  and 
also  some  of  the  adjoining  tombs.  He  describes  the 
shaft  as  being  lined  with  masonry,  both  above  and 
below  the  grotto,  "  to  support,  as  was  supposed,  one 
of  those  insulated  beds  of  gravel  which  are  fre- 
quently found  in  rock,  and  which  the  masons  call 
flaws."  Mr.  Caviglia  was,  however,  by  no  means 
satisfied  with  the  result  of  his  supposed  discovery 
of  the  bottom  of  the  well.  The  ground  was  per- 
ceived to  give  a  hollow  sound  beneath  his  feet,  and 
he  was  persuaded  that  there  must  be  some  con- 
cealed outlet.  He  therefore  determined  to  set 
about  excavating  the  bottom  of  the  well.  The  offer 
of  enormous  wages,  backed  by  an  order  from  the 
Kiayarbey,  procured  the  reluctant  assistance  of  the 
Arabs  in  drawing  up  the  rubbish ;  but,  after  he  had 
succeeded  so  far  in  subduing  their  indolence  and 
their  prejudices,  the  suffocating  heat  and  impurity 
of  the  air  in  so  confined  a  place,  where,  after  the 
first  hour,  a  light  would  not  burn,  rendered  it  im- 
practicable to  proceed  in  the  excavation.  The  fur- 
ther progress  of  his  researches  we  give  in  the  words 
of  a  narrative  drawn  up  from  information  communi- 
cated by  Mr.  Salt,  the  British  consul-general : — 

"  Thus  discouraged,  Mr.  Caviglia  next  turned  his 
attention  to  the  clearing  of  the  principal  entrance 
or  passage  of  the  pyramid,  which,  from  time  imme- 
morial, had  been  so  blocked  up  as  to  oblige  those 
who  entered  to  creep  on  their  hands  and  knees; 
hoping  by  this  to  give  a  freer  passage  to  the  air. 
He  not  only  succeeded  in  carrying  his  purpose  into 


PYRAMIDS   OF   EGYPT.  43 

effect,  but,  in  the  course  of  his  labors,  made  the 
unexpected  discovery,  that  the  main  passage,  lead- 
ing from  the  entrance,  does  not  terminate  in  the 
manner  asserted  by  Maillet.  Having  removed 
several  large  masses  of  calcareous  stone  and  granite, 
apparently  placed  there  to  obstruct  the  passage,  he 
found  that  it  still  continues  in  the  same  inclined 
angle  downward,  is  of  the  same  dimensions,  and 
has  its  sides  worked  with  the  same  care  as  in  the 
channel  above,  though  filled  up  nearly  to  the  top 
with  earth  and  fragments  of  stone.  Having  pro- 
ceeded to  the  length  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet 
in  clearing  out  this  passage,  the  air  began  to  be  so 
impure,  and  the  heat  so  suffocating,  that  he  had  the 
same  difficulties  again  to  encounter  with  regard  to 
the  working  Arabs.  Even  his  own  health  was  at 
this  time  visibly  impaired,  and  he  was  attacked  with 
a  spitting  of  blood ;  nothing,  however,  could  induce 
him  to  desist  from  his  researches. 

"  By  the  14th  of  March,  he  had  excavated  as  low 
down  as  two  hundred  feet  in  the  new  passage  with- 
out anything  particular  occurring;  when,  shortly 
afterward,  a  door  on  the  right  side  was  discovered, 
from  which,  in  the  course  of  a  few  hours,  a  strong- 
smell  of  sulphur  was  perceived  to  issue.  Mr.  Cavig- 
lia  now  recollected,  that  when  at  the  bottom  of  the 
well,  in  his  first  enterprise,  he  had  burned  some 
sulphur  for  the  purpose  of  purifying  the  air,  and  he 
conceived  it  probable  that  this  doorway  might  com- 
municate writh  it ;  an  idea  which,  in  a  little  time,  he 
had  the  gratification  of  seeing  realized,  by  discover- 
ing that  the  channel  through  the  doorway  opened 
at  once  upon  the  bottom  of  the  well,  where  he  found 
the  baskets,  cords,  and  other  implements  which  had 


44  SEVEN   WONDERS   OF   THE   WORLD. 

been  left  there  on  his  recent  attempt  at  a  further 
excavation."  This  discovery  was  so  far  valuable  as 
it  afforded  a  complete  circulation  of  air  along  the 
new  passage,  and  up  the  shaft  of  the  well  into  the 
chamber,  so  as  to  obviate  all  danger,  for  the  future, 
from  the  impurity  of  the  atmosphere.  Mr.  Salt, 
after  this,  made  the  tour  of  the  long  passage,  and 
up  the  shafts  into  the  great  gallery,  without  much 
inconvenience. 

"The  new  passage  did  not  terminate  at  the  door- 
way which  opened  upon  the  bottom  of  the  well. 
Continuing  to  the  distance  of  twenty-three  feet  be- 
yond it,  in  the  same  angle  of  inclination,  it  became 
narrower,  and  took  a  horizontal  direction  for  about 
twenty-eight  feet  further,  where  it  opened  into  a  spa- 
cious chamber,  immediately  under  the  central  point 
of  the  pyramid.  This  new  chamber  is  sixty-six  feet 
long  by  twenty-seven  feet  broad,  with  a  flat  roof, 
and,  when  first  discovered,  was  nearly  filled  with 
loose  stones  and  rubbish,  which,  with  considerable 
labor,  Mr.  Caviglia  removed.  The  platform  of  the 
floor,  dug  out  of  the  rock,  is  irregular,  nearly  one 
half  of  the  length  from  the  eastern  or  entrance  end 
being  level,  and  about  fifteen  feet  from  the  ceiling ; 
while  in  the  middle  it  descends  five  feet  lower,  in 
which  part  there  is  a  hollow  space,  bearing  all  the 
appearance  of  the  commencement  of  a  well  or  shaft. 
From  hence  it  rises  to  the  western  end,  so  that  at 
this  extremity  there  is  scarcely  room  between  the 
floor  and  the  ceiling  to  stand  upright,  the  whole 
chamber  having  the  appearance  of  an  unfinished  ex- 
cavation." This  Mr.  Salt  thinks,  after  a  careful 
comparison  of  it  with  other  subterranean  chambers 
which  have  been  disfigured  by  the  combined  effects 


PYRAMIDS   OF   EGYPT.  45 

of  time  and  the  rude  hands  of  curious  inquirers,  may 
once  have  been  highly  wrought,  and  used,  perhaps, 
for  the  performance  of  solemn  and  secret  mysteries. 
Some  Roman  characters,  rudely  formed,  had  been 
marked  with  the  flame  of  a  candle  on  the  rock,  part 
of  which  having  moldered  away,  rendered  the 
words  illegible.  Mr.  Salt  says,  he  had  flattered 
himself  that  this  chamber  would  turn  out  to  be  that 
described  by  Herodotus  as  containing  the  tomb  of 
Cheops,  which  was  insulated  by  a  canal  from  the 
Nile ;  but  the  want  of  an  inlet,  and  its  elevation  of 
thirty  feet  above  the  level  of  the  Nile,  at  its  highest 
point,  put  an  end  to  this  delusive  idea.  He  thinks, 
however,  from  an  expression  of  Strabo,  purporting 
that  the  passage  from  the  entrance  leads  directly 
down  to  the  chamber  which  contained  the  Ovia, 
(the  receptacle  of  the  dead,)  that  this  new  chamber 
was  the  only  one  known  to  that  author.  "Whatever 
might  have  been  the  intention  of  this  deeply- exca- 
vated chamber,  no  vestige  of  a  sarcophagus  could 
now  be  traced. 

"  On  the  south  side  of  this  irregularly -formed  or 
unfinished  chamber  is  an  excavated  passage,  just 
wide  and  high  enough  for  a  man  to  creep  along  on 
his  hands  and  knees,  continuing  horizontally  in  the 
rock  for  fifty-five  feet,  where  it  abruptly  terminates. 
Another  passage  at  the  east  end  of  the  chamber  com- 
mences with  a  kind  of  arch,  and  runs  about  forty 
feet  into  the  solid  body  of  the  pyramid."  Mr.  Salt 
also  mentions  another  passage  noticed  by  Olivier,  in 
which  the  names  of  "Paisley"  and  "Munro"  were 
now  found  inscribed  at  its  extremity. 

These  laborious  exertions  do  not  appear  to  have 
been  rewarded  with  any  new  discovery  of  antiqui- 


46     SEVEN  WONDEKS  OF  THE  WORLD. 

ties.  Mr.  Caviglia  has,  however,  to  a  certain  de- 
gree, determined  one  long-disputed  point,  namely, 
how  far  the  living  rock  had  been  made  available  in 
the  construction  of  the  pyramids.  "  This  rock,  which 
shows  itself  externally  at  the  north-eastern  angle  of 
the  great  pyramid,  appears  in  the  main  passage, 
and  again  close  to  the  mouth  of  the  well ;  the  highest 
projection  into  the  body  of  the  pyramid  being  about 
eighty  feet  from  the  level  of  its  external  base." 

Much  more,  however,  there  can  be  no  doubt,  re- 
mains to  be  discovered  within  these  "gloomy  man- 
sions of  mystery  and  wonder."  We  have  now,  it  is 
remarked,  the  knowledge  of  three  distinct  chambers 
in  the  great  pyramid,  all  of  which  had  evidently 
been  opened  by  the  Saracens,  and,  perhaps,  long 
before  by  the  Romans;  but,  for  anything  that  is 
known  to  the  contrary,  there  may  be  three  hundred, 
and  might  be  ten  times  three  hundred  such  cham- 
bers yet  undiscovered.  To  assist  the  mind  to  form 
a  just  idea  of  the  immensity  of  the  mass,  let  us  take 
the  great  chamber  of  the  sarcophagus,  whose  di- 
mensions (it  being  about  thirty-five  and  a  half  feet 
long,  seventeen  and  one-quarter  broad,  and  eight- 
een and  three-quarters  high)  are  those  of  a  tolerably 
large-sized  drawing-room ;  which,  as  the  solid  con- 
tents of  the  pyramid  are  found  to  exceed  eighty-five 
million  cubic  feet,  forms  nearly  73V3  part  of  the 
whole :  so  that,  after  leaving  the  contents  of  every 
second  chamber  solid,  by  way  of  separation,  there 
might  be  three  thousand  seven  hundred  chambers, 
each  equal  in  size  to  the  sarcophagus  chamber  within 
the  pyramid  of  Cheops.  All  the  rooms  at  present 
discovered  are  on  the  west  of  the  general  passage, 
that  is,  in  the  north-west  quarter  of  the  pyramid, 


PYRAMIDS   OF  EGYPT.  47 

with  the  exception  of  the  one  discovered  by  Mr. 
Caviglia  in  the  center  of  its  base ;  and  till  examina- 
tion shall  have  ascertained  the  contrary,  it  may  be 
presumed  that  the  other  three-quarters  have  also 
their  chambers.  The  insulated  tomb  of  Cheops,  the 
founder,  if  the  statement  furnished  by  Mr.  Salt  be 
correct,  must  be  an  excavation  far  deeper  than  has 
yet  been  discovered ;  and  the  channel  by  which  the 
waters  of  the  Nile  could  be  brought  into  any  part 
of  the  pyramid,  remains  altogether  concealed.  Yet, 
we  can  hardly  bring  ourselves  to  believe  that  no 
such  communication  ever  existed.  The  excavated 
passage,  which  leads  off  from  the  great  chamber, 
and  abruptly  terminates  at  the  end  of  fifty-five  feet, 
can  never  have  ended,  originally,  in  a  cut  de  sac, 
but  must  have  had  some  design,  and  some  outlet. 

The  pyramid  of  Cephren,  the  second  in  size,  is, 
according  to  Belzoni — each  side  of  the  base  six 
hundred  eighty-four  feet,  vertical  height  four  hund- 
red fifty-six  feet.  This  pyramid  does  not  rise  from 
the  natural  level  of  the  plateau,  but  out  of  an  ex- 
cavation made  in  the  solid  rock  all  round.  The  rock 
on  which  this  pyramid  stands  is  higher  than  that 
on  which  the  great  pyramid  stands;  so  that  both 
may  appear  to  be  on  the  same  level.  Belzoni,  after 
very  considerable  labor,  succeeded  in  opening  the 
second  pyramid,  and  after  traversing  passages  similar 
to  those  in  the  great  pyramid,  reached  the  main 
chamber,  which  is  cut  out  of  the  solid  rock.  It  is 
forty-six  feet  three  inches  long,  sixteen  feet  three 
inches  wide,  and  twenty- three  feet  six  inches  high. 
The  covering  is  made  of  blocks  of  limestone,  which, 
meeting  in  an  angular  point,  form  a  roof  of  the 
same  shape   as  the  pyramid.     The  chamber  con- 


48     SEVEN  WONDEES  OF  THE  WORLD. 

tained  a  sarcophagus,  formed  of  the  finest  granite, 
but  without  a  single  hieroglyphic.  Some  bones 
were  found  in  it,  which  on  examination  proved  to 
be  those  of  an  ox.  An  inscription  on  the  wall,  in 
Arabic,  showed  that  this  chamber  had  been  entered 
by  some  Arab  ruler  of  Egypt,  who  had  again  closed 
the  pyramid.  Belzoni  also  discovered  another  cham- 
ber in  this  pyramid.  The  style  of  building  of  the 
second  pyramid  is  inferior  to  that  of  the  first,  and 
the  stones  used  in  its  construction  were  less  carefully 
selected,  though  united  with  nearly  the  same  kind 
of  cement.  A  considerable  portion  of  the  outer 
coat,  or  what  may  be  termed  the  casing,  still  remains 
on  this  pyramid,  which  appears  to  have  been  formed 
by  leveling  or  planing  down  the  upper  angle  of 
the  projecting  steps,  and  was,  as  Herodotus  remarks, 
consequently  commenced  from  the  summit.  This 
covering,  which  is  of  compact  limestone,  at  a  distance 
appears  to  have  a  spotted  appearance,  partly  pro- 
duced by  the  dung  of  birds,  and  partly  a  reddish- 
colored  lichen,  which  has  not  been  described.  The 
ascent  of  this  pyramid  is  difficult,  in  consequence  of 
so  much  of  the  outer  coat  remaining,  as  there  is  no 
doubt  it  was  the  intention  of  the  architect  that  these 
buildings,  when  finished,  should  neither  be  entered 
nor  ascended. 

Mr.  Wilde's  description  of  his  ascent  of  the  second 
pyramid  in  1839  is  so  graphic  in  its  detail,  that  we 
prefer  giving  it  in  his  own  words : — 

"  I  engaged  two  Arabs  to  conduct  me  to  the  sum- 
mit, one  an  old  man,  the  other  about  forty,  both  of 
a  mold  which,  for  combination  of  strength  and 
agility,  I  never  saw  surpassed.  We  soon  turned  to 
the  north,  and  finally  that  part  where  the  outer 


PYRAMIDS    OF   EGYPT.  49 

casing  still  remains  on  the  west  side.  All  this  was 
very  laborious,  though  not  very  dangerous.  But  here 
was  an  obstacle  that  I  knew  not  how  the  guides 
themselves  could  surmount,  much  less  how  I  could 
possibly  master;  for  above  our  heads  jutted  out  like 
an  eave  or  coping  the  lower  stones  of  the  coating, 
which  still  remain,  and  retain  a  smooth  polished  sur- 
face. As  considerable  precaution  was  necessary, 
the  guides  made  me  take  off  my  hat,  coat,  and  shoes 
at  this  place.  The  younger  then  placed  his  raised 
and  extended  hands  against  the  projecting  edge  of 
the  lower  stone,  which  reached  to  above  his  chin ; 
and  the  elder,  taking  me  up  in  his  arms  as  I  would 
a  child,  placed  my  feet  on  the  other's  shoulders,  and 
my  body  flat  on  the  smooth  surface  of  the  stone. 
In  this  position  we  formed  an  angle  with  each  other, 
and  here  I  remained  full  two  minutes,  till  the  old 
man  went  round,  and  by  some  other  means  con- 
trived to  get  over  the  projection,  when,  creeping 
along  the  line  of  the  junction  of  the  casing,  he  took 
my  hands,  drew  me  up  to  where  he  was  above  me, 
and  then,  letting  down  his  girdle,  assisted  to  mount 
up  the  younger,  but  less  active  and  less  daring 
climber  of  the  two.  We  then  proceeded  much  as 
follows :  one  of  them  got  on  the  shoulders  of  the 
other,  and  so  gained  the  joining  of  the  stone  above, 
which  was  often  five  feet  asunder  ;  the  upper  man 
then  helped  me  in  a  similar  action,  while  the  lower 
pushed  me  up  by  the  feet.  Having  gained  this  row, 
we  had  often  to  creep  for  some  way  along  the  join- 
ing to  where  another  opportunity  for  ascending  was 
afforded.  In  this  way  we  proceeded  to  the  summit; 
and  some  idea  of  my  feelings  may  be  formed,  when 
it  is  recollected  that  all  these  stones,  of  such  a  span, 


50     SEVEN  WONDERS  OF  THE  WORLD. 

are  highly  polished,  are  set  at  an  angle  of  forty-five 
degrees,  and  that  the  places  we  had  to  grip  with  our 
hands  and  feet  were  often  not  two  inches  wide,  and 
their  height  above  the  ground  four  hundred  feet. 
A  single  slip  of  the  foot,  and  we  must  all  three 
have  been  dashed  to  atoms  long  before  we  reached 
the  ground.  On  gaining  the  top,  my  guides  gave 
vent  to  sundry  demonstrations  of  satisfaction,  clap- 
ping me  on  the  back,  patting  my  head,  and  kissing 
my  hands.  From  all  this  I  began  to  suspect  some- 
thing wonderful  had  been  achieved ;  and  some  idea 
of  my  perilous  situation  broke  upon  me  when  I  saw 
my  friends  beneath  waving  their  hats,  and  looking 
up  with  astonishment,  as  we  sat  perched  upon  the 
top,  which  is  not  more  than  six  feet  square.  The 
apex  stone  is  off,  and  it  now  consists  of  four  outer 
slabs  and  one  in  the  center,  which  is  raised  up  on 
its  end,  and  leans  to  the  eastward.  I  do  not  think 
that  human  hands  could  have  raised  it  thus  from  its 
bed,  on  account  of  its  size,  and  the  confined  space 
they  would  have  to  work  in.  I  am  inclined  to  think 
the  top  was  struck  by  lightning,  and  the  position 
thus  altered  by  it.  The  three  of  us  had  just  room 
to  sit  upon  the  place.  The  heat  was  intense,  and  the 
stones  so  hot,  that  it  was  unpleasant  to  sit  very  long, 
and  it  would  be  dangerous  to  attempt  to  stand.  The 
descent  was,  as  might  be  expected,  much  more  dan- 
gerous, though  not  so  difficult.  The  guides  tied  a 
long  sash  under  my  arms,  and  so  let  me  slide  down 
from  course  to  course  of  these  covering  stones,  which 
are  of  yellowish  limestone,  somewhat  different  from 
the  material  of  which  the  steps  are  composed,  and 
totally  distinct  from  the  rock  of  the  base  or  the 
coating  of  the  passages." 


PYRAMIDS   OF   EGYPT.  51 

The  discoveries  made  by  the  Prussian  expedition, 
under  Dr.  Lepsius,  and  which  are  but  very  recently 
made  known,  are  of  a  most  astonishing  character. 
The  tombs  at  the  foot  of  the  great  pyramid,  till  this 
investigation,  were  very  imperfectly  known,  all  pre- 
ceding travelers  having  but  slightly  examined  them. 
Dr.  Lepsius  has  examined  forty-live  out  of  eighty- 
two  he  had  marked  for  search,  and  of  these,  nearly  all 
were  built  either  during  or  soon  after  the  construc- 
tion of  the  great  pyramids,  and  of  course  afford  a  series 
of  dates  of  inestimable  value  for  the  knowledge  of 
the  oldest  determinable  civilization  of  the  human 
race.  The  architecture  of  the  time  is  developed,  as 
already  mentioned ;  sculptures  of  whole  figures  of 
all  sizes,  in  high  and  low  relief,  occur  in  surprising 
abundance.  The  painting,  on  walls  of  the  finest 
lime  coating,  is  often  beautiful  beyond  conception, 
and  in  some  cases  is  perfect,  and  as  fresh  as  if  done 
yesterday.  The  most  magnificent  of  these  tombs 
were  for  the  families  of  those  kings  near  whose 
pyramids  they  lie,  and  one  buried  in  the  sand  is 
devoted  to  the  son  of  Cheops.  The  series  of  tombs 
furnishes  us  with  a  pedigree  of  the  distinguished 
families  of  royalty  and  nobility  of  the  land.  Sir  G. 
"Wilkinson  had  previously  expressed  his  belief,  from 
an  examination  of  one  of  these  tombs,  that  those 
sculptures  and  buildings  were  the  oldest  in  Egypt. 

The  pyramid  of  Mycerinus,  or  third  in  size,  differs 
from  the  other  two,  being  built  in  almost  perpendicu- 
lar degrees,  to  which  a  sloping  face  has  been  after- 
ward added.  The  outer  coating  was  of  red  gran- 
ite, much  of  which  still  remains.  Pliny  remarks, 
that  the  third,  though  smaller  than  the  other  two, 
was  much  more  elegant,  from  the  Ethiopian  stone 


52  SEVEN    WONDERS    OF   THE   WORLD. 

that  clothed  it.  Blocks  and  fragments  of  this  granite 
coating  lie  scattered  about  its  base.  This  pyramid 
was  opened  by  Col.  Howard  Yyse  in  1838,  and  the 
coffin  and  remains  of  Mycerinus  may  now  be  seen 
in  the  British  Museum,  and  the  ghastly  remnants 
of  the  mortality  of  one  of  the  great  monarchs  of  this 
earth  are  now  exposed  dropping  away  into  dust, 
after  an  entombment  of  thirty-nine  centuries.  Dio- 
dorus  says  that  the  name  of  Mycerinus  was  written 
on  its  north  face.  The  height  of  this  pyramid  is 
one  hundred  and  seventy-four  feet,  the  side  of  the 
base  three  hundred  and  thirty  feet. 

A  fourth  pyramid  stands  south  of  the  third :  the 
base  of  it  is  about  one  hundred  and  thirty  feet. 
When  the  French  were  in  Egypt  they  attempted  to 
demolish  it,  but  were  unsuccessful.  Two  pyramids 
to  the  west  of  this,  similar  to  the  Mexican  pyramids, 
consist  each  of  four  receding  platforms,  and  are 
ascended  by  high,  narrow  steps :  on  the  summit  is 
a  platform.  There  are  three  small  pyramids  on  the 
east  side  of  the  larger  pyramid ; — the  center  one  of 
these  is  that  which  Herodotus  says  was  built  by  the 
daughter  of  Cheops. 

There  are  some  large  pyramids  at  Sakkara ;  the 
base  of  the  largest  is  six  hundred  and  fifty-six  feet, 
and  three  hundred  and  forty  feet  high.  It  is  built 
in  degrees,  or  receding  platforms ;  it  has  a  hollow 
dome  supported  by  wooden  rafters.  At  the  end  of 
the  passage  opposite  to  the  entrance  of  this  dome  is 
a  small  chamber,  and  on  the  doorway  are  some 
hieroglyphics.  The  room  is  lined  with  blue  slabs  of 
vitrified  porcelain,  similar  to  what  we  term  Dutch 
tiles. 

Near  to  the  eastward  is  a  vaulted  tomb  of  the 


PYRAMIDS    OF   EGYPT.  53 

second  Psammetichus,  of  hewn  stone,  the  oldest 
stone  arch  hitherto  discovered,  having  been  erected 
600  B.  C. 

At  Dashour,  also,  there  are  some  large  pyramids ; 
the  base  of  one  on  each  side  is  seven  hundred  feet, 
a  perpendicular  of  three  hundred  and  forty- three 
feet,  and  one  hundred  and  fifty-four  steps.  It  has 
some  portion  of  the  outer  covering  remaining  on  the 
top.  The  entrance  is  on  the  northern  side,  and  it 
has  a  principal  chamber  and  some  smaller  chambers 
and  passages,  similar  to  those  described  in  the  great 
pyramid,  at  Jizeh.  Another  pyramid  has  a  base  of 
six  hundred  feet ;  at  a  height  of  one  hundred  and 
eighty-four  feet  the  plane  of  the  side  is  changed, 
and  a  new  plane  of  smaller  inclination  completes 
the  pyramid.  The  platform  is  thirty  feet  square. 
This  pyramid  is  built  of  a  hard  white  stone ;  its 
sides  face  the  cardinal  points.  It  was  entered  in 
1760  by  a  Mr.  Melton,  who  found  a  single  chamber 
in  it.  Near  these  is  a  large  pyramid  built  of  sun- 
dried  bricks,  made  of  loam  and  chopped  straw. 

There  are  some  small  pyramids  at  Thebes,  in 
which  the  central  chambers  have  vaulted  roofs. 
From  the  style  of  the  frescoes  in  these,  Wilkinson 
judges  their  date  to  be  as  far  back  as  1260  B.  C. 

In  Nubia,  there  are  at  least  eighty  pyramids,  but 

they  are  generally  of  small  dimensions.     At  Assur, 

near  the  Nile,  there  are  some  of  large  size ;  they 

are  built  of  sandstone,  with  a  propyla,  or  porch, 

adorned  with  sculptures.     There  is  no  account  of 

any  of  them  having  ever  been  entered.     The  sides 

do  not  face  the  cardinal  points.     There  are  also 

some  pyramids  at  a  place  called  Naurri,  on  the 

eastern  side  of  the  Nile ;  the  largest  of  these  is  said 

4 


54  SEVEN    WONDERS    OF   THE   WORLD. 

to  contain  within  it  another  pyramid  of  a  different 
stone  and  style  of  architecture. 

John  Greaves,  an  English  antiquary,  who  was 
Fellow  of  Merton  College,  Oxford,  in  the  year  1638, 
visited  Egypt  for  the  purpose  of  surveying  the 
pyramids,  of  which  structures  there  was  then  no 
satisfactory  account  extant.     He  says,  "  Concerning 
the  pyramids,  I  shall  put  down  that  which  is  con- 
fessed by  the  Arabian  writers  to  be  the  most  proba- 
ble relation,  as  is  reported  by  Ibn  Abd  Alhokm, 
whose  words  out  of  the  Arabic  are  these :    '  The 
greatest  part  of  chronologers  agree,  that  he  which 
built  the  pyramids  was  Saurid  Ibn  Salhouk,  King 
of  Egypt,  who  lived  three  hundred  years  before  the 
Flood.     The  occasion  of  this  was,  because  he  saw, 
in  his  sleep,  that  the  whole  earth  was  turned  over 
with  the  inhabitants  of  it,  the  men  lying  upon  their 
faces,  and  the  stars  falling  down  and  striking  one 
another,  with  a  terrible  noise ;  and  being  troubled, 
he  concealed  it.     After  this  he  saw  the  fixed  stars 
falling  to  the  earth,  in  the  similitude  of  white  fowl, 
and  they  snatched  up  men,  carrying  them  between 
two  great  mountains;  and  these  mountains  closed 
upon  them,  and  the  shining  stars  were  made  dark. 
Awaking  with  great  fear,  he  assembles  the  chief 
priests  of  all  the  provinces  of  Egypt,  one  hundred 
and  thirty  priests;   the  chief  of  them  was  called 
Aclimum.    Relating  the  whole  matter  to  them,  they 
took  the  altitude  of  the  stars,  and,  making  their 
prognostication,  foretold  of  a   deluge.     The   king 
said, '  Will  it  come  to  our  country  V    They  answered, 
'  Yea,  and  will  destroy  it.'     And  there  remained  a 
certain  number  of  years  for  to  come,  and  he  com- 
manded in  the  mean  space  to  build  the  pyramids, 


PYRAMIDS   OF  EGYPT.  55 

and  a  vault  to  be  made,  into  which  the  River  Nilus 
entering,  should  run  into  the  countries  of  the  west, 
and  into  the  land  Al-Said.  And  he  filled  them  with 
amulets,  and  with  strange  things,  and  with  riches 
and  treasures,  and  the  like.  He  engraved  in  them 
all  things  that  were  told  him  by  wise  men,  as  also 
all  profound  sciences,  the  names  of  magic  spells,  the 
uses  and  hurts  of  them ;  the  science  of  astrology  and 
arithmetic,  and  of  geometry  and  of  physic.  All 
this  may  be  interpreted  by  him  that  knows  their 
characters  and  language.  After  he  had  given  order 
for  this  building,  they  cut  out  vast  columns  arid 
wonderful  stones.  They  fetched  massy  stones  from 
the  Ethiopians,  and  made  with  these  the  foundation 
of  the  three  pyramids,  fastening  them  together  with 
lead  and  iron.  They  built  the  gates  of  them  forty 
cubits  under  ground,  and  they  made  the  height  of 
the  pyramids  one  hundred  royal  cubits,  which  are 
fifty  of  ours  in  these  times ;  he  also  made  each  side 
of  them  one  hundred  royal  cubits.  The  beginning 
of  this  building  was  in  a  fortunate  horoscope.  After 
that  he  had  finished  it,  he  covered  it  with  colored 
satin  from  top  to  the  bottom ;  and  he  appointed  a 
solemn  festival,  at  which  were  present  all  the  in- 
habitants of  his  kingdom.  Then  he  built  in  the 
western  pyramid  thirty  treasures,  filled  with  stores 
of  riches,  and  utensils,  and  with  signatures  made  of 
precious  stones,  and  with  instruments  of  iron,  and 
vessels  of  earth,  and  with  arms  that  rust  not,  and 
with  glass  which  might  be  bended  and  yet  not 
broken,  and  with  several  kinds  of  alakakirs,  single 
and  double,  and  with  deadly  poisons,  and  with  other 
things  besides.  He  made  also  in  the  east  pyramid 
divers  celestial  spheres  and  stars,  and  what  they 


56  SEVEN   WONDEES   OF  THE   WORLD. 

severally  operate  in  their  aspects,  and  the  perfumes 
which  are  to  be  used  to  them,  and  the  books  which 
treat  of  these  matters.     He  also  put  in  the  colored 
pyramid  the  commentaries  of  the  priests  in  chests 
of  black  marble,  and  with  every  priest  a  book,  in 
which  were  the  wonders  of  his  profession,  and  of  his 
actions,  and  of  his  nature,  and  what  was  done  in  his 
time,  and  what  is,  and  what  shall  be,  from  the  begin- 
ning of  time  to  the  end  of  it.   He  placed  in  every  pyra- 
mid a  treasure.  The  treasurer  of  the  westerly  pyramid 
was  a  statue  of  marble  stone,  standing  upright  with 
a 'lance,  and  upon  his  head  a  serpent  wreathed.    He 
that  came  near  it,  and  stood  still,  the  serpent  bit  him 
of  one  side,  and  wreathing  round  about  his  throat 
and  killing  him,  returned  to  his  place.     He  made 
the  treasurer  of  the  east  pyramid  an  idol  of  black 
agate,  his  eyes  open  and  shining,  sitting  upon  a 
throne  with  a  lance.     "When  any  looked  upon  him, 
he  heard  of  one  side  of  him  a  voice,  which  took  away 
his  sense,  so  that  he  fell  prostrate  upon  his  face,  and 
ceased  not  till  he  died.     He  made  the  treasurer  of 
the  colored  pyramid  a  statue  of  stone,  called  Albut, 
sitting :  he  which  looked  toward  it  was  drawn  by 
the  statue,  till  he  stuck  to  it,  and  could  not  be 
separated  from  it,  till  such  time  as  he  died.     The 
Coptites  write  in  their  books,  that  there  is  an  inscrip- 
tion engraven  upon  them,  the  exposition  of  which, 
in  Arabic,  is  this :  '  I,  King  Saurid,  built  the  pyra- 
mids in  such  and  such  a  time,  and  finished  them  in 
six  years :  he  that  comes  after  me,  and  says  that  he 
is  equal  to  me,  let  him  destroy  them  in  six  hundred 
years ;  and  yet  it  is  known  that  it  is  easier  to  pluck 
down  than  to  build  up :  I  also  covered  them,  when 
I  had  finished  them,  with  satin ;  and  let  him  cover 


PYRAMIDS   OF   EGYPT.  57 

them  with  mats.'  After  that  Almamon  the  Calif 
entered  Egypt,  and  saw  the  pyramids,  he  desired  to 
know  what  was  within,  and  therefore  would  have 
them  opened.  They  told  him  it  could  not  possibly 
be  done.  He  replied,  'I  will  have  it  certainly 
done.'  And  that  hole  was  opened  for  him,  which 
stands  open  to  this  day,  with  fire  and  vinegar.  Two 
smiths  prepared  and  sharpened  the  iron  and  engines, 
which  they  forced  in,  and  there  was  a  great  expense 
in  the  opening  of  it.  The  thickness  of  the  walls 
was  found  to  be  twenty  cubits;  and  when  they 
came  to  the  end  of  the  wall,  behind  the  place  they 
had  digged,  there  was  an  ewer  of  green  emerald ;  in 
it  were  a  thousand  dinars,  very  weighty,  every 
dinar  was  an  ounce  of  our  ounces ;  they  wondered 
at  it,  but  knew  not  the  meaning  of  it.  Then  Al- 
mamon said,  '  Cast  up  the  account  how  much  hath 
been  spent  in  making  the  entrance.'  They  cast  it 
up,  and  lo!  it  was  the  same  sum  which  they 
found;  it  neither  exceeded  nor  was  defective. 
Within  they  found  a  square  well ;  in  the  square  of 
it  there  were  doors ;  every  door  opened  into  a  house, 
(or  vault,)  in  which  there  were  dead  bodies  wrapped 
up  in  linen.  They  found  toward  the  top  of  the 
pyramid  a  chamber,  in  which  there  was  a  hollow 
stone :  in  it  was  a  statue  of  stone  like  a  man,  and 
within  it  a  man,  upon  whom  was  a  breast-plate  of 
gold  set  with  jewels;  upon  his  breast  was  a  sword 
of  invaluable  price,  and  at  his  head  a  carbuncle  of 
the  bigness  of  an  egg,  shining  like  the  light  of  the 
day ;  and  upon  him  were  characters  written  with  a 
pen :  no  man  knows  what  they  signify.  After  Al- 
mamon had  opened  it,  men  entered  into  it  for  many 
years,  and  descended  by  the  slippery  passage  which 


58  (SEVEN   WONDERS   OF  THE  WORLD. 

is  in  it ;  and  some  of  them  came  out  safe,  and  others 
died." 

The  pyramidal  form  of  building  is  not  peculiar  to 
Egypt.  Pyramids,  not  inferior  to  those  we  have 
described,  and  some  even  of  larger  .dimensions  in 
their  plane  and  base,  exist  in  Mexico.  The  great 
Teocalli,  or  pyramid  of  Choluta,  has  a  base  whose 
side  is  one  thousand  four  hundred  and  forty  feet, 
very  nearly  double  that  of  the  pyramid  of  Cheops ; 
it  stands  on  an  extensive  plain,  at  an  elevation  of 
more  than  seven  thousand  feet  above  the  sea.  This 
pyramid  consists  of  four  receding  platforms  of  equal 
elevation,  and  appears  to  have  its  sides  opposite  the 
four  cardinal  points.  The  perpendicular  height  is, 
according  to  Humboldt,  only  one  hundred  and 
seventy-seven  feet ;  and  as  the  receding  terraces  are 
very  wide,  and  the  area  of  the  upper  platform  or 
terrace  small  in  comparison  with  the  base,  the  out- 
line of  the  whole  is  not  that  of  a  continuous  pyramid. 
On  the  highest  platform  of  the  pyramid  there  was 
an  altar  dedicated  to  Quetzalcoatl,  the  god  of  the 
air.  The  pyramid  being  now  covered  with  vegeta- 
tion, it  is  difficult  to  determine  how  it  was  con- 
structed. The  early  Spanish  historians  of  Mexico 
state  that  the  whole  is  made  of  brick.  Humboldt 
found,  in  the  lowest  platform,  where  a  broad  way  had 
been  cut  through  it,  that  it  was  composed  of  alter- 
nate layers  of  clay  and  of  brick,  either  sun-baked  or 
only  slightly  burnt.  In  cutting  this  road,  a  square 
stone  chamber,  supported  by  posts  of  cypress,  was 
found  in  the  interior  of  the  pyramid.  This  chamber 
contained  two  dead  bodies,  two  basalt  idols,  and  a 
great  number  of  vessels  varnished  and  painted. 
There  was  no  apparent  entrance  to  this  chamber. 


PYRAMIDS   OF  EGYPT.  50 

The  west  side  of  the  pyramid  is  in  the  best  state  of 
preservation,  and  when  the  monument  is  viewed 
from  this  direction,  the  snow-covered  volcano  is  seen 
in  the  distance,  rising  to  the  height  of  seventeen 
thousand  three  hundred  and  sixty  feet. 

This  pyramidal  tower  resembles  in  no  small  de- 
gree the  Temple  of  Belus,  as  described  by  Herod- 
otus, inasmuch  as  it  consists  of  eight  stories,  each 
forming  a  platform,  on  which  stands  the  one  above  it. 

At  Teotihuacan,  eight  leagues  north-east  of  the 
city  of  Mexico,  are  two  large  pyramids,  surrounded 
by  several  hundred  small  ones,  which  are  ranged  in 
files  or  lines,  running  due  east  and  west,  north  and 
south.  The  two  large  pyramids  consist  of  four  plat- 
forms, each  of  which  was  formed  into  a  number  of 
steps,  the  edges  of  which  are  yet  distinguishable. 
The  great  mass  appears  to  be  clay  mixed  with  small 
stones ;  the  casing  is  a  thick  covering  of  a  porous 
amygdaloid.  On  the  summit  of  each  of  these  two 
pyramids  was  a  colossal  stone  statue  covered  with 
plates  of  gold ;  the  gold  was  carried  off  by  Cortes's 
soldiers,  and  a  zealous  Franciscan  monk  broke  the 
statues  in  pieces.  The  one  is  said  to  have  been  ded- 
icated to  the  sun,  and  the  other  to  the  moon.  In 
a  thick  forest  near  to  Teotihuacan,  there  is  a  pyra- 
mid, which  appears  to  have  escaped  the  notice  of 
the  Spaniards.  It  is  entirely  built  of  well-hewn  stones 
of  a  very  large  size ;  three  nights  of  steps  lead  to 
the  top ;  it  appears  to  have  had  seven  platforms, 
and  the  casing  of  the  platforms  is  adorned  with  hie- 
roglyphic sculptures.  Its  height  is  fifty-nine  feet, 
and  each  side  of  the  base  is  eighty-two  feet. 

Besides  the  pyramids  mentioned,  there  are  in 
Mexico  other  monuments  and  works  of  a  most  mag- 


60     SEVEN  WONDERS  OF  THE  WORLD. 

nificent  character,  which,  attest  a  high  degree  of 
civilization  attained  by  the  aborigines  of  this  part 
of  the  world,  showing  how  much  the  Toltecans,  or 
some  more  ancient  people,  resembled  the  ancient 
Egyptians  in  their  architecture  and  practice  of  the 
fine  arts. 

In  India,  near  Benares,  are  some  temples  in  pyra- 
midal form,  all  of  which  have  their  sides  turned  to 
the  four  cardinal  points ;  they  have  a  subterraneous 
communication  with  the  Eiver  Ganges,  which  forms 
a  curious  point  of  resemblance  between  the  Hindoo 
temple,  and  what  Herodotus  says  about  the  cham- 
ber of  Cheops  communicating  with  the  Nile. 

The  prevalence  of  the  pyramidal  form  throughout 
all  the  older  civilized  nations  is  very  striking,  wheth- 
er in  sepultures,  pagodas,  or  towers.  We  have  cer- 
tainly the  best  evidence  of  the  Egyptian  preceding 
all  others  at  present  in  existence.  In  the  infancy  of 
art,  it  is  probable  that  stones  were  rudely  piled  one 
above  another,  converging  to  an  apex,  as  being  of 
all  forms  the  most  stable,  or  else  a  huge  fragment 
of  rock  might  be  pared  away,  and  thus  form  the 
first  advance  to  pyramid  or  obelisk.  The  Hindoo 
structures,  pagoda  towers,  as  they  are  termed,  are 
pyramidal  in  form,  but  far  more  lofty  in  proportion : 
the  finest  specimen  is  the  great  pagoda  at  Tanjore, 
which  is  certainly  a  splendid  work  of  ancient  art. 

The  Temple  of  Belus,  at  Babylon,  according  to  the 
description  of  Herodotus,  was  of  pyramidal  form ; 
the  base  was  a  square  of  six  hundred  Greek  feet:  it 
consisted  of  eight  receding  platforms,  on  the  highest 
of  which  was  a  temple. 

At  Sarrest,  near  Benares,  in  Hindoostan,  is  a 
Boodh  monument  of  unknown  antiquity ;  it  is  of  a 


PYRAMIDS   OF  EGTPT.  Gl 

pyramidal  form,  and  of  the  most  solid  construction, 
one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  in  circumference,  and 
above  one  hundred  feet  high ;  the  lower  part  has  a 
casing  of  stone,  the  masses  of  which  are  of  enormous 
magnitude,  all  joined  and  polished  with  the  great- 
est nicety ;  of  its  history  and  builders  nothing  can 
be  traced. 

In  the  Island  of  Java  stands  the  Borro  Boedoor, 
a  Boodhist  pyramidal  building,  constructed  in  five 
terraces,  all  most  gorgeously  sculptured  and  adorned, 
and,  unlike  all  other  Eastern  structures,  it  has  a 
series  of  niches  stretching  along  the  edifice.  The 
interior  is  a  chamber,  in  which  is  placed  a  colossal 
statue  of  Boodh,  in  the  usual  contemplative  charac- 
ter in  which  he  appears. 

The  tomb  of  Caius  Cestius,  which  stands  at  the 
gate  of  St.  Paul,  at  Rome,  is  of  pyramidal  form ; 
the  height  is  one  hundred  twenty-one  feet,  the 
breadth  at  the  base  nearly  one  hundred  feet,  and  is 
constructed  of  white  marble.  It  contains  a  room 
of  twenty  feet  by  sixteen,  and  seventeen  feet  high  ; 
on  the  walls  are  paintings  representing  two  females 
sitting  and  two  standing,  with  a  Victory  between 
them.  It  is  also  ornamented  with  vases  and  cande- 
labra. By  an  inscription  in  the  Museum  Capitoli- 
num,  found  near  the  monument,  we  learn  that 
Pontius  Claudius  Mela  and  Pothos  erected  this 
tomb. 

Of  the  tomb  of  the  Emperor  Alexander  Severus, 
which  was  also  of  pyramidal  form,  there  is  now  only 
a  shapeless  mass  of  ruin ;  but  it  shows  the  two  cham- 
bers that  contained  sarcophagi,  with  the  passages 
that  led  to  them. 

There  is  at  Autun,  in  France,  a  pyramidal  erec- 


62     SEVEN  WONDEKS  OF  THE  WORLD. 

tion  of  about  forty-five  feet  on  each  side  the  base, 
and  fifty  feet  high.  The  sides  are  to  the  cardinal 
points.  It  is  a  solid  mass  of  unhewn  stones,  joined 
by  a  white  hard  cement.  Tradition  speaks  of  it  as 
being  the  monument  of  some  illustrious  Adean.  It 
stands  in  the  midst  of  an  extensive  piece  of  land, 
called  "The  Field  of  Urns,"  so  named  from  the 
quantity  of  funeral  urns  that  have  been  found  there. 
It  is  now  in  a  very  decayed  state. 

The  practice  of  raising  a  great  mound  over  the 
dead  seems  to  have  been  almost  universal.  The 
Persians  raised  a  mound  at  Aconithus  over  Arta- 
chies,  the  superintendent  of  the  canal  at  Athos, 
which  still  exists,  a  memorial  of  Persian  usage  and 
of  the  fidelity  of  Herodotus  as  an  historian.  The 
mound  of  earth  we  may  suppose,  among  nations  not 
advanced  in  the  mechanical  arts,  occupies  the  place 
of  the  pyramids.  In  many  parts  of  Europe  and  of 
North  America  there  still  exist  many  of  these  most 
enduring  of  all  monuments,  and  which  may  survive 
the  massy  stone-work  of  the  pyramids.  Such  mounds 
as  these  are  the  tombs  of  the  Scythian  kings  on  the 
banks  of  the  Borysthenes,  and  the  great  mound  of 
Alyattes,  King  of  Lydia  and  father  of  Croesus,  who 
died  about  600  B.  C,  near  Sardis,  in  Asia  Minor. 
Herodotus  says  the  circuit  round  the  base  was  three 
thousand  eight  hundred  Greek  feet.  Modern  writers 
speak  of  it  as  the  largest  mound  in  the  world.  The 
lower  part  was  a  substructure  of  stone,  which  is  now 
covered  by  the  earth  that  has  fallen  down.  It  still 
retains  its  conical  form.  Silbury  Hill,  in  Wiltshire, 
England,  is  in  the  form  of  a  truncated  cone ;  the 
circumference  of  its  base  is  two  thousand  and  twenty- 
seven  feet.     This  vast  conical  mound  of  earth  is 


PYRAMIDS   OF  EGYPT.  63 

certainly  the  largest  tumulns  in  Europe.  It  is  con- 
sidered by  antiquarians  to  be  the  sepulchral  monu- 
ment of  a  British  king  or  chief,  who  founded  the 
temple  at  Avebury.  The  labor  of  raising  such  a 
mound  must  have  been  immense ;  and  some  idea 
may  be  entertained  of  its  magnitude  and  of  the 
enormous  quantity  of  earth  required  to  raise  so  en- 
during a  monument,  when  we  find  it  covers  nearly 
six  acres  of  land.  Its  perpendicular  height  is  one 
hundred  and  seventy  feet. 

The  meaning  of  the  word  pyramid  has  been 
the  subject  of  much  discussion  among  the  learned. 
The  word,  according  to  the  Coptic,  is  interpreted 
to  mean  "the  sun's  rays,"  and  "Bethshemesh,  that 
is  in  the  land  of  Egypt,"  (Jeremiah  xliii,  13,)  which 
our  Bibles  translate,  "  Temples  of  the  Sun."  Some 
commentators  render  "  a  temple  to  the  light  reced- 
ing;" and  the  usually  adopted  derivation  is  from 
the  Greek  <pur,  fire,  which  always  ascends  in  a 
conical  form,  or  a  pillar  ending  in  a  point.  Pliny 
says :  "  An  obelisk  is  a  representation  of  a  ray  of 
the  sun,  and  the  Egyptian  name  of  these  obelisks 
proves  it;  and  thus  the  pyramidal  or  obelisk  form 
of  these  structures  refers  to  the  worship  of  fire." 
The  very  careful  surveys  made  by  order  of  Napo- 
leon, and  conducted  by  Denon,  show  that  the  pyra- 
mids of  Jizeh  all  stand  due  north  and  south,  which 
strengthens  the  suggestion  advanced  by  some 
authors,  that  these  stupendous  monuments  served 
not  only  for  tombs,  but  also  for  astronomical  pur- 
poses ;  their  obliquity  is  so  adjusted  as  to  make  the 
north  side  coincide  exactly  with  the  obliquity  of  the 
sun's  rays  at  the  summer  solstice.  It  is  also  to  be 
noticed,  that  the  Egyptians  connected  astronomy 


64:  SEVEN   WONDEKS   OF  THE   WORLD. 

with  all  their  religious  ceremonies ;  for  zodiacs  are 
found  sculptured  even  in  their  tombs. 

The  sacred  use  of  the  pyramids  is,  perhaps,  best 
indicated  by  the  sarcophagi  found  in  them,  and 
their  position  amid  the  extensive  fields  of  mummy- 
pits  and  tombs.  But  this  explanation,  so  well  in 
accordance  with  the  construction  of  the  pyramids, 
and  all  ancient  historical  tradition,  has  not  generally 
been  considered  sufficient.  We,  thinking  that  there 
is  no  better,  leave  our  readers  to  exercise  their  own 
imaginations.  "Why  the  Egyptians  built  some  pyra- 
mids so  large,  others  being  very  small,  is  the  same 
kind  of  question  as  if  one  were  to  ask  why  St.  Paul's 
was  made  so  large :  those  who  can  answer  the  latter 
question  can  answer  the  other.  The  fact  of  the  four 
sides  being  turned  to  the  four  cardinal  points  may 
be  similarly  explained.  One  certain  conclusion 
seems  to  follow,  from  the  form  of  the  pyramids,  that 
the  people  who  built  them  must  have  already  had 
practical  knowledge  of  geometrical  figures,  both 
plane  and  solid. 

It  has  generally  been  considered  that  pyramid 
(nvpapig)  must  be  an  Egyptian  word ;  and  this  may 
be  true ;  but  let  us  see  what  consequences  follow 
from  the  supposition.  The  Greeks  have  native 
names  for  the  circle,  the  cone,  the  square,  the 
cube,  &c. ;  but,  according  to  this  notion  of  pyramis 
being  an  Egyptian  word,  their  name  for  the  geo- 
metrical figure  of  the  pyramid  came  from  Egypt ; 
and  as  there  is  no  other  Greek  name  for  this  figure, 
they  did  not  know  the  pyramid  till  they  learned 
the  form  and  the  name  from  the  Egyptians :  for  we 
assume  that  if  they  had  known  the  pyramid  before 
knowing  the  pyramids,  they  would  have  a  native 


PYRAMIDS'  OF   EGYPT.  65 

name  for  it,  which  would  certainly  have  come  down 
to  us  among  their  mathematical  terms,  in  place  of  a 
foreign  word,  which  would  have  been  unnecessary. 
Let  us  suppose,  on  the  other  hand,  that  pyramis  is  a 
genuine  Greek  word,  and  then  we  find  that  all  the 
Greek  names  of  the  geometrical  figures  are  native 
terms.  The  form  of  the  word  pyramis  (nvpapig)  is 
one  of  the  very  common  forms  of  the  Greek  lan- 
guage, which  contains  a  very  large  class  of  words 
in  amos  and  amis,  {a\iog,  a^ig :)  amos  or  amis  -is  one 
of  those  terminations  of  which  we  now  only  deduce 
the  meaning  by  a  comparison  of  a  great  number  of 
similar  forms.  Whether  the  radical  part  of  pyr-amis 
be  the  word  pyr,  fire,  (irt)p,)  (the  pyramid  being  so 
called  from  its  general  resemblance  to  a  flame  in  its 
pointed  form,)  we  do  not  know.  In  no  instance  does 
Herodotus  call  any  Egyptian  edifice  by  an  Egyptian 
word  or  name,  except  it  may  be  Labyrinthus ;  but 
even  this  is,  we  believe,  a  Greek  word,  and  is  anal- 
ogous to  other  similar  forms. 

The  ages  of  the  pyramids  of  Egypt,  as  fixed  by 
Herodotus,  correspond  to  the  reigns  of  Cheops, 
Cephren,  Mycerinus,  and  Asychis,  who  reigned, 
according  to  him,  in  the  order  here  enumerated. 
After  Asychis  came  Anysis,  who  was  expelled  by 
Sabakos  the  Ethiopian,  whose  epoch  is  generally 
fixed  not  earlier  than  B.  C.  800.  Herodotus  does 
not  give  the  years  of  the  reigns  of  Asychis  and 
Mycerinus,  but  he  allows  one  hundred  and  six  years 
to  the  reigns  of  Cephren  and  Cheops — a  sum  quite 
sufficient  for  all  four.  According  to  him,  then,  the 
great  pyramid  of  Jizeh  was  built  about  nine  hun- 
dred years  B.  C,  or  about  four  hundred  and  fifty 
years  before  Herodotus  visited  Egypt.     Admitting 


66  SEVEN   WONDEKS   OF  THE   WORLD. 

them  to  be  so  comparatively  modern,  we  may  also 
admit  that  the  history  of  them  must  have  been  well 
known  in  the  time  of  Herodotus,  which  accords 
very  sufficiently  with  the  minute  information  which 
he  gives  about  Cheops  and  Mycerinus.  This  evi- 
dence is  not  very  satisfactory  to  any  critic,  and  still 
less  so  to  those  who  have  a  preconceived  opinion  of 
the  high  antiquity  of  the  pyramids ;  but  unsatisfac- 
tory as  the  evidence  is,  it  is  all  that  we  have,  except 
the  authority  of  Manetho's  Catalogue,  which  attrib- 
utes the  great  pyramid  to  Suphis,  (the  Cheops  of 
Herodotus,)  the  second  king  of  the  fourth  dynasty; 
and  the  building  of  the  third  to  Queen  Nitocris,  of 
the  sixth  dynasty.  If  Herodotus  has  given  us  the 
kings  from  Sesostris  downward  in  their  right  order, 
we  have  a  reasonable  probability  that  the  age  of  the 
pyramids,  as  assigned  by  him,  is  not  very  far  wrong : 
if  he  was  deceived  by  the  priests,  or  if  he  mistook 
what  was  told  him  through  an  interpreter,  his  series 
of  kings  prior  to  Psammetichus  is  of  no  value,  and 
the  antiquity  of  the  pyramids,  so  far  as  his  authority 
goes,  must  remain  unsettled. 

For  the  preceding  observations  on  the  name  and 
date  of  these  remarkable  works  we  are  indebted  to 
Mr.  Long's  work  on  the  Ancient  Egyptians,  con- 
sidering them  to  be  much  better  than  any  others 
that  have  been  offered. 


C|*  oTcmplr,  tljc  avails,  ani  iJattgittg 
(bartats  of  $aWott. 


Yielding  his  soul,  the  Babylonian  framed 
For  influence  undefined  a  personal  shape ; 
And  from  the  plain,  with  toil  immense,  uprear'd 
Tower  eight  times  planted  on  the  top  of  tower; 
That  Belus  nightly  on  his  splendid  couch 
Descending,  there  might  rest ;  upon  that  height 
Pure  and  serene,  diffused — to  overlook 
Winding  Euphrates,  and  the  city  vast 
Of  his  devoted  worshipers,  far-stretch'd, 
With  grove,  and  field,  and  garden  interspersed ; 
Their  tower  and  fruitful  region  to  support 
Against  the  pressure  of  beleaguering  war. 

WORBSWORTIH. 


CONTENTS, 


The  City  of  Babylon. 

The  Temple  of  Belus. 

The  Walls. 

The  Hanging  Gardens. 

Gardens  of  the  Eastern  Nations. 

Appearance  of  the  Ruins. 

Rich's  Memoir. 

Accomplishment  of  Prophecy  in  the  entire  Destruc- 
tion and  complete  Desolation  of  "  the  Beauty  of 
the  Chaldees'  Excellency." 


THE  TEMPLE,  THE  WALLS,  AND  HANGING 
GARDENS  OF  BABYLON. 

"  Behold  where  grandeur  frown'd ; 

Behold  where  pleasure  smiled ; 
What  now  .remains? — the  memory 

Of  senselessness  and  shame. 

What  is  immortal  there  ? 

Nothing — it  stands  to  tell 

A  melancholy  tale,  to  give 

An  awful  warning :  soon 
Oblivion  will  steal  silently  ' 

The  remnant  of  its  fame. 

Monarchs  and  conquerors  there 
Proud  o'er  prostrate  millions  trod — 
The  earthquakes  of  the  human  race  ; 
Like  them,  forgotten  when  the  ruin 

That  marks  their  shock  is  past." 

Moses,  in  the  tenth  chapter  of  the  Book  of  Genesis, 
tells  us  that  Nimrod,  one  of  the  grandsons  of  Noah, 
was  a  mighty  hunter,  and  the  beginning  of  his 
kingdom  was  Babel,  in  the  land  of  Shinar. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  this  first  postdiluvian  city 
of  which  we  have  any  record,  was  the  original  of 
that  great  city  on  the  Euphrates,  which  afterward 
acquired  such  fame  as  the  capital  of  the  Babylonian 
enrpire.  The  name  of  Nimrod  signifies  a  rebel,  and 
according  to  Armenian  and  European  accounts,  the 
land  where  he  erected  his  kingdom  was  in  the  allot- 
ment to  the  sons  of  Shem ;  and  his  revolt  and  violent 
encroachment  upon  the  territories  of  others  form 


70  SEVEN   WONDEES   OF   THE   WORLD. 

the  basis  on  which  we  with  good  reason  affix  to  him 
the  evil  character  he  bears.  Whatever  consequence 
this  first  city  had  acquired,  there  is  no  doubt  it  was 
lost  after  the  confusion  of  tongues. 

The  same  sacred  volume  also  informs  us,  that  the 
people  began  the  building  of  "  a  mighty  tower  whose 
top  may  reach  unto  heaven."  Whether  there  was 
any  or  what  bad  intention  in  this  erection,  has  af- 
forded much  matter  for  discussion,  into  which  it  is 
not  necessary  here  to  enter ;  but  we  may  inquire 
what  became  of  this  famous  tower  in  after-times. 
There  is  no  statement  that  this  great  work  sustained 
any  damage  at  the  confusion ;  it  is  simply  said  that 
the  building  of  the  city,  and  doubtless  of  the  tower 
also,  was  discontinued.  It  is  generally  admitted  that 
the  fabric  was  in  a  considerable  state  of  forwardness 
at  the  confusion,  and  it  is  highly  probable  it  could 
have  sustained  no  great  damage  at  *  the  time  when 
the  building  of  Babylon  was  commenced. 

The  city  of  Babylon,  the  capital  of  the  Babylonian 
empire,  was  situate  on  the  River  Euphrates,  about 
fifty  miles  south  of  Bagdad.  Its  origin  is  lost  in  the 
obscurity  of  early  times.  It  is  rather  remarkable 
that  Herodotus  gives  us  no  intimation  respecting  its 
founder  ;  and  from  this  we  may  fairly  conclude  that 
its  antiquity  was  so  great,  and  ascended  so  high,  that 
he  could  not  satisfy  himself  concerning  it.  We  learn 
from  this  generally  accurate  writer,  that  it  was  the 
most  celebrated  city  of  Assyria,  and  that  the  kings 
of  that  country  made  it  their  residence  after  the  de- 
struction of  Nineveh,  and  he  very  clearly  describes 
the  appearance  of  the  city  when  he  visited  it.  It 
was  situate  in  a  great  plain,  and  was  in  form  of  a 
perfect  square,  each  side  one  hundred  twenty  stadia 


BABYLON.  71 

in  length  ;  which  would  make  its  circuit  not  much 
less  than  fifty  miles.  This  extent  seems  so  enormous, 
that  many  writers  of  eminence  consider  there  must 
be  either  mistake  or  exaggeration ;  but  when  we  see 
how  the  metropolis  of  the  British  empire  is  every 
year  increasing  in  all  directions,  it  may  be  expected, 
at  no  very  remote  period,  to  reach  the  same  dimen- 
sions as  this  wonder  of  the  ancient  world.  Still 
more,  when  we  are  told  that  the  city  was  very  loose- 
ly built,  and  much  of  the  ground  inclosed  by  the 
walls  left  vacant,  or  laid  out  in  gardens,  it  may 
reasonably  be  doubted  whether  it  contained  a  pop- 
ulation, or  comprehended  as  large  a  number  of 
buildings  as  present  London;  therefore,  however 
surprising  this  account  may  in  the  first  instance 
seem,  it  is  not  so  incredible  as  some  suppose. 

"  Of  Babylon's  wondrous  walls,  within 
Whose  large  inclosure  the  rude  hind,  or  guides 
His  plow,  or  binds  his  sheaves,  while  shepherds  guard 
Their  flocks,  secure  of  ill :  on  the  broad  top 
Six  chariots  rattle  in  extended  front. 
Each  side  in  length,  in  height,  in  solid  bulk, 
Reflects  its  opposite  a  perfect  square: 
Scarce  sixty  thousand  paces  can  mete  out 
The  vast  circumference.     A  hundred  gates 
Of  polish'd  brass  led  to  that  central  point, 
Where  through  the  midst,  bridged  o'er  with  wondrous  art, 
Euphrates  leads  a  navigable  stream, 
Branch'd  from  the  current  of  his  roaring  flood." 

It  was  encompassed  by  a  wide  and  deep  ditch, 
lined  with  brick- work  and  full  of  water,  and  the  soil 
dug  out  was  made  into  bricks,  with  which  a  wall 
was  built  two  hundred  royal  cubits  high  and  fifty  in 
thickness,  (a  cubit  is  eighteen  inches.)  The  bricks 
were  baked  in  furnaces,  and  hot  bitumen  was  used 
to  cement  them  together ;  at  every  thirty  layers  of 


72  SEVEN  WONDERS  OF  THE  WORLD. 

bricks  a  layer  of  reeds  was  placed.  The  sides  of 
the  ditch  were  first  built  in  this  manner,  and  then 
the  walls  above  them  ;  and  upon  the  edges  of  the 
wall  they  erected  buildings  with  only  one  chamber, 
each  opposite  the  other,  between  which  there  was 
space  enough  left  for  a  chariot  with  four  horses.  In 
the  walls  there  were  a  hundred  gates,  twenty-five 
on  each  side ;  all  these  gates  were  made  of  solid 
brass,  and  of  prodigious  size  and  strength.  The 
Euphrates  ran  through  the  city,  dividing  it  in  two 
parts,  and  in  the  wall  lining  the  river  there  were 
smaller  gates,  also  of  brass,  from  which  steps  con- 
ducted down  to  the  stream.  Between  every  two  of 
the  ereat  e;ates  there  were  three  watch-towers  ten 
feet  higher  than  the  walls,  with  four  such  towers  at 
each  of  the  four  angles  of  the  wall,  and  three  more 
between  each  of  those  angles  and  the  next  adjoining 
gate  on  either  side.  There  were,  however,  but  two 
hundred  and  fifty  towers  in  all,  as  they  were  omitted 
on  that  side  where  the  morasses  rendered  unnecessary 
the  protection  they  oifered.  The  grand  square  was 
divided  into  twenty-five  grand  streets  which  inter- 
sected each  other,  thus  parting  the  city  into  six 
hundred  and  twenty-six  squares.  Each  of  the  streets 
went  quite  across  the  city  in  a  straight  line,  extending 
from  a  principal  gate  on  one  side  to  another  on  the 
opposite  side.  The  vast  squares  formed  by  the  in- 
tersection of  the  streets  were  not  built  upon,  but 
were  laid  out  in  gardens  and  pleasure  grounds,  and 
the  houses  that  lined  the  streets  stood  much  apart 
from  each  other,  and  they  were  of  three  and  four 
stories  high,  and  adorned  with  all  the  splendor  and 
gorgeousness  of  ancient  oriental  taste. 
The  wonders  of  Babylon  which  seem  most  to  have 


^ 


BABYLON 


*  m 


\Cj. 


zm%0 


BABYLON.  75 

attracted  the  attention  of  Herodotus  and  other  an- 
cient writers,  were  the  Temple  of  Belus,  the  walls, 
and  the  king's  palace,  with  the  hanging  gardens. 

The  Temple  of  Belus,  or  rather  the  pile  on  which 
it  stood,  from  the  descriptions  given  of  it,  most  prob- 
ably was  the  famous  Tower  of  Confusion,  which 
may  have  been  repaired,  or  the  temple  built  thereon 
by  Nebuchadnezzar.  The  tower  was  in  the  midst 
of  a  large  inclosure,  with  gates  of  brass,  which  were 
in  existence  when  Herodotus  wrote.  The  sacred 
inclosure  was  a  regular  square,  each  side  being  two 
stadia ;  in  the  center  rose  the  massive  tower ;  above 
this  tower  rose  another,  above  that  others,  until  in 
the  whole  there  were  eight.  A  winding  stair  went 
round  the  towers  on  the  outside;  midway  in  the 
ascent  was  a  spacious  place  with  seats,  where  those 
who  ascended  might  rest  themselves.  In  the  last 
tower  was  a  large  chamber  expressly  sacred  to  Be- 
lus, furnished  with  a  huge  magnificent  couch,  and 
by  it  a  table  of  solid  gold ;  but  there  was  no  image 
of  the  god,  as  he  was  supposed  to  occupy  it  himself. 
The  temple  was  adorned  by  colossal  statues  of  pure 
gold,  the  value  of  which,  according  to  Herodotus, 
was  five  thousand  talents,  or  one  hundred  million 
dollars.  Jewish  writers  no  doubt  exaggerate  its 
height,  but  Strabo's  account  makes  it  to  have  been 
six  hundred  and  sixty  English  feet. 

"We  have  already  stated  that  the  Euphrates  ran 
through  the  city ;  the  banks  of  it  were  faced  with 
brick,  and  a  continuous  quay  was  formed  the  whole 
length  of  the  town.  The  river  was  crossed  by  a 
bridge,  which  was  more  than  a  furlong  in  length, 
and  built  on  some  admired  principle,  to  supply  the 
defect  in  the  bottom  of  the  river,  which  was  sandy. 


76  SEVEN   "WONDERS   OF  THE   WORLD. 

At  the  western  end  of  the  bridge  stood  the  palace 
which  Nebuchadnezzar  is  said  to  have  built  to  su- 
persede another  which  stood  on  the  other  side  of  the 
stream.  The  palace  was  inclosed  by  a  triple  wall, 
and  with  its  parks  and  gardens  was  included  in  a 
circle  of  little  less  than  eight  miles. 

Bishop  Prideaux,  with  considerable  care  and  inge- 
nuity, collected  the  statements  of  the  different  an- 
cient writers  into  one  narrative,  which,  affording  a 
complete  view  of  the  most  extensive  city  the  world 
ever  saw,  we  avail  ourselves  of  it  in  the  description 
that  follows : — 

"  Nebuchadnezzar  being  now  at  rest  from  all  Ins 
wars,  and  in  full  peace  at  home,  applied  himself  to 
the  finishing  of  his  buildings  at  Babylon.  Semiramis 
is  said  by  some,  and  Belus  by  others,  to  have  first 
fomided  this  city.  But  by  whomsoever  it  was  first 
founded,  it  was  Nebuchadnezzar  that  made  it  one  of 
the  wonders  of  the  world.  The  most  famous  works 
therein  were, — the  walls  of  the  city  ;  the  temple  of 
Belus ;  his  palace,  and  the  hanging  gardens  in  it ; 
the  banks  of  the  river ;  the  artificial  lake,  and  arti- 
ficial canals  made  for  the  draining  of  that  river, — in 
the  magnificence  and  expense  of  which  works,  he 
much  exceeded  all  that  had  been  done  by  any  king 
before  him. 

"  The  walls  were  every  way  prodigious,  for  they 
were  in  thickness  eighty-seven  feet,  in  height  three 
hundred  and  fifty  feet,  and  in  compass  four  hundred 
and  eighty  furlongs,  which  make  sixty  of  our  miles. 
This  is  Herodotus's  account  of  them,  who  was  him- 
self at  Babylon,  and  is  the  most  ancient  author  that 
hath  wrote  of  this  matter.  And  although  there  are 
others  that  differ  from  him  herein,  yet  the  most, 


BABYLON.  77 

that  agree  in  any  measures  of  those  walls,  give  us 
the  same  or  very  near  the  same  that  he  doth.    Those 
who  lay  the  height  of  them  at  fifty  cubits,  speak  of 
them  only  as  they  were  after  the  time  of  Darius 
Hystaspes;   for  the   Babylonians   having  revolted 
from  him,  and  in  confidence  of  their  strong  walls 
stood  out  against  him  in  a  long  siege,  after  he  had 
taken  the  place,  to  prevent  their  rebellion  for  the 
future  he  took  away  their  gates,  and  beat  down  their 
walls  to  the  height  last  mentioned, — and  beyond 
this  tliev  were  never  after  raised.    These  walls  were 
drawn  round  the  city  in  the  form  of  an  exact  square, 
each  side  of  which  was  fifteen  miles  in  length,  and 
all  built  of  large  bricks  cemented  together  with 
bitumen,  a  glutinous  slime  arising  out  of  the  earth 
in  that   country,  which  binds   in  building  much 
stronger  and  firmer  than   lime,   and  soon  grows 
much  harder  than  the  bricks  or  stones  themselves, 
which  they  cement  together.    These  walls  were  sur- 
rounded on  the  outside  with  a  vast  ditch  filled  with 
water,  and  lined  with  bricks  on  both  sides,  after  the 
manner  of  a  scarp  or  counterscarp ;  and  the  earth 
which  was  dug  out  of  it  made  the  bricks  wherewith 
the  walls  were  built ;  and,  therefore,  from  the  vast 
height  and  breadth  of  the  walls  may  be  inferred 
the  greatness  of  the  ditch.     In  every  side  of  this 
great   square  were   twenty-five   gates,   that  is,   a 
hundred  in  all,  which  were  all  made  of  solid  brass ; 
and  hence  it  is,  that  when  God  promised  to  Cyrus 
the  conquest  of  Babylon,  he  tells  him  that  he  would 
break  in  pieces  before  him  the  gates  of  brass.     Be- 
tween every  two  of  these  gates  were  three  towers, 
and  four  more  at  the  four  corners  of  this  great 
square,  and  three  between  each  of  these  corners  and 


78  SEVEN   WONDERS    OF   THE   WORLD. 

the  next  gate  on  either  side,  and  every  one  of  these 
towers  was  ten  feet  higher  than  the  walls.     But  this 
is  to  be  understood  only  of  those  parts  of  the  wall 
where  there  was  need  of  towers ;  for  some  parts  of 
them  lying  against  morasses  always  full  of  water, 
where  they  could  not  be  approached  by  an  enemy, 
they  had  no  need  of  any  towers  at  all  for  their  de- 
fense, and  therefore  in  them  were  none  built ;  for 
the  whole  number  of  them  amounted  to  no  more 
than  two  hundred  and  fifty ;  whereas  had  the  same 
uniform  order  been  observed  in  their  disposition  all 
round,  there  must  have  been  many  more.     From 
the  twenty-five  gates  in  each  side  of  this   great 
square  went  twenty-five  streets  in  straight  lines  to 
the  gates,  which  were  directly  over  against  them  in 
the  other  side  opposite  to  it ;  so  that  the  whole  num- 
ber of  the  streets  was  fifty,  each  fifteen  miles  long, 
whereof  twenty-five  went  one  way  and  twenty-five 
the  other,  directly  crossing  each  other  at  right  angles. 
And  besides  these  there  were  also  four  half-streets, 
which  were  built  but  of  one  side,  as  having  the  wall 
on  the  other.     These  went  round  the  four  sides  of 
the  city  next  the  walls,  and  were  each  of  them  two 
hundred  feet  broad, — the  rest  were  about  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty.    By  these  streets  thus  crossing  each 
other,  the  whole  city  was  cut  out  into  six  hundred 
and  seventy-six  squares,  each  of  which  was  four 
furlongs  and  a  half  on  every  side,  that  is,  two  miles 
and  a  quarter  in  compass.     Round  these  squares  on 
every  side  toward  the  streets  stood  the  houses,  all 
about  three  or  four  stories  high,  and  beautified  with 
all  manner  of  adornments  toward  the  streets.     The 
space  within  the  middle  of  each  square  was  open 
ground,  employed  for  yards,  gardens,  and  the  like. 


BABYLON.  79 

A  branch  of  the  river  Euphrates  did  run  quite 
across  the  city,  entering  in  on  the  north  side  and 
going  out  on  the  south,  over  which,  in  the  middle 
of  the  city,-  was  a  bridge  of  a  furlong  in  length,  and 
thirty  feet  in  breadth,  built  with  wonderful  art,  to 
supply  the  defect  of  a  foundation  in  the  bottom  of 
the  river,  which  was  all  sandy.  At  the  two  ends 
of  the  bridge  were  two  palaces,  the  old  palace  on 
the  east  side,  and  the  new  palace  on  the  west  side 
of  the  river ;  the  former  of  these  took  up  four  of  the 
squares  above  mentioned,  and  the  other  nine  of 
them ;  and  the  Temple  of  Belus,  which  stood  next 
the  old  palace,  took  up  another  of  these  squares. 
The  whole  city  stood  on  a  large  flat,  or  plain,  in  a 
very  fat  and  deep  soil.  .That  part  of  it  which  was 
on  the  east  side  of  the  river  was  the  old  city ;  the 
other,  on  the  west  side,  was  added  by  Nebuchad- 
nezzar. Both  together  were  included  within  that 
vast  square  I  have  mentioned.  The  pattern  hereof 
seemeth  to  have  been  taken  from  Nineveh,  that 
having  been  exactly  four  hundred  and  eighty  fur- 
longs round,  as  this  was.  For  Nebuchadnezzar  hav- 
ing in  conjunction  with  his  father  destroyed  that  old 
royal  seat  of  the  Assyrian  empire,  resolved  to  make 
this,  which  he  intended  should  succeed  it  in  that 
dignity,  altogether  as  large  ;  only  whereas  Nineveh 
was  in  the  form  of  a  parallelogram,  he  made  Baby- 
lon in  that  of  an  exact  square,  which  figure  ren- 
dered it  somewhat  the  larger  of  the  two.  To  fill  this 
great  and  large  city  with  inhabitants  was  the  reason 
that  Nebuchadnezzar,  out  of  Judea  and  other  con- 
quered countries,  carried  so  great  a  number  of  cap- 
tives thither.  And  could  he  have  made  it  as  popu- 
lous as  it  was  great,  there  was  no  country  in  all  the 


80  SEVEN   WONDERS   OP   TIIE   WORLD. 

East  could,  better  than  that  in  which  it  stood,  have 
maintained  so  great  a  number  of  people  as  must 
then  have  been  in  it.  For  the  fertility  of  this 
province  was  so  great,  that  it  yielded  to  the  Persian 
kings,  during  their  reign  over  Asia,  half  as  much  as 
did  all  that  large  empire  besides;  the  common 
return  of  their  tillage  being  between  two  and  three 
hundred  fold  every  crop.  But  it  never  happened 
to  have  been  fully  inhabited,  it  not  having  had  time 
enough  to  grow  up  thereto.  For  within  twenty-five 
years  after  the  death  of  Nebuchadnezzar  the  royal 
seat  of  the  empire  was  removed  from  thence  to  Shu- 
shan  by  Cyrus,  which  did  put  an  end  to  the  growing 
glory  of  Babylon;  for  after  that  it  never  more 
flourished.  When  Alexander  came  to  Babylon,  Cur- 
tius  tells  us,  no  more  than  ninety  furlongs  of  it  was 
then  built,  which  can  no  otherwise  be  understood 
than  of  so  much  in  length,  and  if  we  allow  the  breadth 
to  be  as  much  as  the  length,  (which  is  the  utmost 
that  can  be  allowed,)  it  will  follow  that  no  more 
than  eight  thousand  one  hundred  square  furlongs 
were  then  built  upon ;  but  the  whole  space  within 
the  walls  contained  fourteen  thousand  four  hundred 
square  furlongs,  and  therefore  there  must  have  been 
six  thousand  three  hundred  square  furlongs  that 
were  unbuilt,  which  Curtius  tells  us  were  ploughed 
and  sown.  And  besides  this  the  houses  were  not 
contiguous,  but  all  built  with  a  void  space  on  each 
side  between  house  and  house.  And  the  same  his- 
torian tells  us  this  was  done  because  this  way  of 
building  seemed  to  them  the  safest.  His  words  are  : 
"Ac  ne  totam  quidem  urbem  tectis  occupaverunt, 
per  nonaginta  stadia  habitatur,  nee  omnia  continua 
sunt,   credo   quia  tutius  visum  est  pluribus  locis 


BABYLON.  81 

spargi ;"  i.  e.  "  Neither  was  the  whole  city  built 
upon,  for  the  space  of  ninety  furlongs  it  was  in- 
habited, but  the  houses  were  not  contiguous,  because 
they  thought  it  safest  to  be  dispersed  in  many  places 
distant  from  each  other."  Which  words  ("they 
thought  it  safest")  are  to  be  understood,  not  as  if 
they  did  this  for  the  better  securing  of  their  houses 
from  fire,  as  some  interpret  them,  but  chiefly  for  the 
better  preserving  of  health.  For  hereby,  in  cities 
situated  in  such  hot  countries,  those  suffocations  and 
other  inconveniences  are  avoided,  which  must  neces- 
sarily attend  such  as  there  dwell  in  houses  closely 
built  together ;  for  which  reason  Delhi,  the  capital 
of  India,  and  several  other  cities  in  those  warmer 
parts  of  the  world  are  thus  built,  the  usage  of  those 
places  being,  that  such  a  stated  piece  of  ground  be  left 
void  between  every  house  and  house  that  is  built  in 
them.  And  old  Rome  was  built  after  the  same 
manner.  So  that  putting  all  this  together,  it  will 
appear  that  Babylon  was  so  large  a  city  rather  in 
scheme  than  in  reality.  For  according  to  this 
account  it  must  be  by  much  the  larger  part  that 
was  never  built,  and  therefore  in  this  respect  it 
must  give  place  to  Nineveh,  which  was  as  many 
furlongs  in  circuit  as  the  other,  and  without  any 
void  ground  in  it,  that  we  are  told  of.  And  the 
number  of  its  infants  at  the  same  time,  which  could 
not  discern  between  their  right  hand  and  their  left, 
which  the  Scriptures  tell  us  were  one  hundred  and 
twenty  thousand  in  the  time  of  Jonah,  doth  suffi- 
ciently prove  it  was  fully  inhabited.  It  was  in- 
tended, indeed,  that  Babylon  should  have  exceeded 
it  in  everything.  But  Nebuchadnezzar  did  not 
live  long  enough,  nor  the  Babylonish  empire  last 


82  SEVEN    WONDERS    OF   THE   WORLD. 

long  enough  to  finish  the   scheme  that  was  first 
drawn  of  it. 

"The  next  great  work  of  Nebuchadnezzar  at 
Babylon  was  the  Temple  of  Belus.  But  that  which 
was  most  remarkable  in  it  was  none  of  his  work,  but 
was  built  many  ages  before.  It  was  a  wonderful 
tower  that  stood  in  the  middle  of  it.  At  the  founda- 
tion it  was  a  square  of  a  furlong  on  each  side,  that  is, 
a  half  of  a  mile  in  the  whole  compass,  and  consisted 
of  eight  tpwers,  one  built  over  the  other.  And 
Strabo,  in  his  description  of  it,  calling  it  a  pyramid, 
because  of  its  decreasing  or  benching  at  every 
tower,  saith  of  the  whole,  that  it  was  a  furlong  high, 
and  a  furlong  on  every  side.  Taking  it  only  as  it 
is  described  by  Strabo,  it  was  prodigious  enough ; 
for  according  to  his  dimensions  only,  without  adding 
anything  further,  it  was  one  of  the  most  wonderful 
works  in  the  world,  and  much  exceeding  the  greatest 
of  the  pyramids  of  Egypt,  which  hath  been  thought 
to  excel  all  other  works  in  the  world  beside.  For 
although  it  fell  short  of  that  period  at  the  base, 
(where  there  was  a  square  of  seven  hundred  feet  on 
every  side,  and  this  but  of  six  hundred,)  yet  it  far 
exceeded  it  in  the  height,  the  perpendicular  measure 
of  the  said  pyramid  being  no  more  than  four  hun- 
dred and  eight-one  feet,  whereas  that  of  the  other 
was  full  six  hundred,  and  therefore  it  was  higher 
than  that  pyramid  by  one  hundred  and  nineteen 
feet,  which  is  one  quarter  of  the  whole.  And  there- 
fore it  was  not  without  reason,  that  Bochartus  asserts 
it  to  have  been  the  very  same  tower  which  was  there 
built  at  the  Confusion  of  Tongues ;  for  it  was  pro- 
digious enough  to  answer  the  Scriptures'  description 
of  it,  and  it  is  particularly  attested  by  several  authors 


BABYLON.  83 

to  have  been  all  built  of  bricks  and  bitumen,  as  the 
Scriptures  tell  us  the  tower  of  Babel  was.     Herodo- 
tus saith,  that  the  going  up  to  it  was  by  stairs  on 
the  outside  round  it;  from  whence  it  seems  most 
likely  that  the  whole  ascent  to  it  was  by  the  bench- 
ing-in  drawn  in  a  sloping  line  from  the  bottom  to 
the  top  eight  times  round  it,  and  that  this  made  the 
appearance  of  eight  towers  one  above  another,  in 
the  same  manner  as  we  have  the  Tower  of  Babel 
commonly  described  in  pictures,  saving  only,  that 
whereas  that  is  usually  pictured  round,  this  was 
square.     For  such  a  benching-in  drawn  in  a  slope 
eight  times  round  in  manner  as  aforesaid,  would 
make  the  whole  seem  on  every  side  as  consisting  of 
eight  towers,  and  the  upper  tower  to  be  so  much  less 
than  that  next  below  it,  as  the  breadth  of  the  bench- 
ing-in amounted  to.     These  eight  towers  being  so 
many  stories  one  above  another,  were  each  of  them 
seventy-five  feet  high,  and  in  them  were  many  great 
rooms  with  arched  roofs  supported  by  pillars;  all 
which  were  made  parts  of  the  temple,  after  the 
tower  became  consecrated  to  that  idolatrous  use. 
The  uppermost  story  of  all  was  that  which  was  most 
sacred,  and  where  their  chiefest  devotions  were  per- 
formed.   Over  the  whole,  on  the  top  of  the  tower,  wTas 
an  observatory,  by  the  benefit  of  which  it  was  that 
the  Babylonians  advanced  their  skill  in  astronomy 
beyond  all  other  nations,  and  came  to  so  early  a 
perfection  in  it,  as  is  related.     For  when  Alexander 
took   Babylon,   Calisthenes    the   philosopher,   who 
accompanied  him  thither,  found  they  had  astronom- 
ical observations  for  one  thousand  nine  hundred  and 
three  years  backward  from  that  time,  which  carrieth 
up  the  account  as  high  as  one  hundred  and  fifteen 


84     SEVEN  WONDERS  OF  THE  WORLD. 

years  after  the  Flood,  which  was  within  fifteen 
years  after  the  Tower  of  Babel  was  built.  For  the 
Confusion  of  Tongues,  which  followed  immediately 
after  the  building  of  that  tower,  happened  in  the 
year  wherein  Peleg  was  born,  which  was  one  hun- 
dred and  one  years  after  the  Flood,  and  fourteen 
years  after  these  observations  began.  This  account 
Calisthenes  sent  from  Babylon  into  Greece,  to  his 
master  Aristotle,  as  Simplicius,  from  the  authority 
of  Porphyry,  delivers  it  unto  us  in  his  second 
book  De  Coelo.  Till  the  time  of  Nebuchadnezzar 
the  Temple  of  Belus  contained  no  more  than  this 
tower  only,  and  the  rooms  in  it  served  all  the  occa- 
sions of  that  idolatrous  worship ;  but  he  enlarged  it 
by  vast  buildings  erected  round  it  in  a  square  of 
two  furlongs  on  every  side,  and  a  mile  in  circum- 
ference, which  was  one  thousand  eight  hundred  feet 
more  than  the  square  of  the  Temple  of  Jerusalem. 
For  that  was  but  three  thousand  feet  round,  whereas 
this  was  according  to  this  account  four  thousand 
eight  hundred.  And  on  the  outside  of  all  these 
buildings  there  was  a  wall  inclosing  the  whole, 
which  may  be  supposed  to  have  been  of  equal 
extent  with  the  square  in  which  it  stood,  that  is,  two 
miles  and  a  half  in  compass,  in  which  were  several 
gates  leading  into  the  temple,  all  of  solid  brass ;  and 
the  brazen  sea,  the  brazen  pillars,  and  the  other 
brazen  vessels  which  were  carried  to  Babylon  from 
the  Temple  of  Jerusalem,  seem  to  have  been  em- 
ployed to  the  making  of  them.  For  it  is  said  that 
Nebuchadnezzar  did  put  all  the  sacred  vessels,  which 
he  carried  from  Jerusalem,  into  the  house  of  his  god 
at  Babylon,  that  is,  into  this  house  or  temple  of  Bel. 
For  that  was  the  name  of  the  great  god  of  the 


BABYLON.  85 

Babylonians.  He  is  supposed  to  have  been  the  same 
with  Nimrod,  and  to  have  been  called  Bel  from  his 
dominion,  and  Nimrod  from  his  rebellion ;  for  Bel, 
or  Baal,  which  is  the  same  name,  signifieth  Lord ; 
and  Nimrod,  a  rebel,  in  the  Jewish  and  Chaldean 
languages.  The  former  was  his  Babylonish  name 
by  reason  of  his  empire  in  that  place,  and  the  latter 
his  Scripture  name,  by  reason  of  his  rebellion  in 
revolting  from  God  to  follow  his  own  wicked  de- 
signs. This  temple  stood  till  the  time  of  Xerxes ; 
but  he,  on  his  return  from  his  Grecian  expedition, 
demolished  the  whole  of  it,  and  laid  it  all  in  ruin, 
having  first  plundered  it  of  all  its  immense  riches, 
among  which  were  several  images  or  statues  of 
massive  gold ;  and  one  of  them  is  said  by  Diodo- 
rus  Siculus  to  have  been  forty  feet  high,  which 
might,  perchance,  have  been  that  which  Nebuchad- 
nezzar consecrated  in  the  plains  of  Dura.  Nebuchad- 
nezzar's golden  image  is  said  indeed  in  Scripture  to 
have  been  sixty  cubits,  i.  e.  ninety  feet  high ;  but 
that  must  be  understood  of  the  image  and  pedestal 
both  together.  For  that  image  being  said  to  have 
been  but  six  cubits  broad  or  thick,  it  is  impossible 
that  the  image  could  have  been  sixty  cubits  high ; 
for  that  makes  its  height  to  be  ten  times  its  breadth 
or  thickness,  which  exceeds  all  the  proportions  of  a 
man,  no  man's  height  being  above  six  times  his 
thickness,  measuring  the  slenderest  man  living  at 
his  waist.  But  where  the  breadth  of  this  image  was 
measured  is  not  said,  perchance  it  was  from  shoulder 
to  shoulder,  and  then  the  proportion  of  six  cubits' 
breadth  will  bring  down  the  height  exactly  to  the 
measure  .which  Diodorus  hath  mentioned.  For  the 
usual  height  of  a  man  being  four  and  a  half  of  his 


86     SEVEN  WONDERS  OF  THE  WORLD. 

breadth  between  the  shoulders,  if  the  image  were 
six  cubits  broad  between  the  shoulders,  it  must 
according  to  this  proportion  have  been  twenty-seven 
cubits  high,  which  is  forty  feet  and  a  half.  Besides, 
Diodorus  tells  us  that  this  image  of  forty  feet  high 
contained  a  thousand  Babylonish  talents  of  gold, 
which,  according  to  Pollux,  (who  in  his  Onomasti- 
con  reckons  a  Babylonish  talent  to  contain  seven 
thousand  Attic  drachmas,  i.  e.,  eight  hundred  and 
seventy-five  ounces,)  amounts  to  three  millions  and 
a  half  of  our  money.  But  if  we  advance  the  height 
of  the  statue  to  ninety  feet  without  the  pedestal,  it 
will  increase  the  value  to  a  sum  incredible,  and 
therefore  it  is  necessary  to  take  the  pedestal  also 
into  the  height  mentioned  by  Daniel.  Other  images 
and  sacred  utensils  were  also  in  that  temple,  all  of 
solid  gold.  Those  that  are  particularly  mentioned 
by  Diodorus  contain  five  thousand  and  thirty  talents, 
which,  with  the  thousand  talents  in  the  image  above 
mentioned,  amount  to  above  one  and  twenty  mill- 
ions of  our  money.  And  besides  this,  we  may  well 
suppose  the  value  of  as  much  more  in  treasure  and 
utensils  not  mentioned,  which  was  a  vast  sum.  But 
it  was  the  collection  of  near  two  thousand  years : 
for  so  long  that  temple  had  stood.  All  this  Xerxes 
took  away  when  he  destroyed  it.  And  perchance 
to  recruit  himself  with  the  plunder,  after  the  vast 
expense  which  he  had  been  at  in  his  Grecian  expe- 
dition, was  that  which  chiefly  excited  him  to  the 
destruction  of  it,  what  other  reason  soever  might  be 
pretended  for  it.  Alexander,  on  his  return  to 
Babylon  from  his  Indian  expedition,  purposed  again 
to  have  rebuilt  it,  and  in  order  hereto,  he  did  set 
ten  thousand  men  at  work  to  rid  the  place  of  its 


BABYLON.  87 

rubbish,  but  after  they  had  labored  herein  two 
months  Alexander  died,  before  they  had  perfected 
much  of  the  undertaking ;  and  this  did  put  an  end 
to  all  further  proceedings  in  that  design.  Had  he 
lived,. and  made  that  city  the  seat  of  his  empire,  as 
it  was  supposed  he  would,  the  glory  of  Babylon 
would  no  doubt  have  been  advanced  by  him  to  the 
utmost  height  that  ever  Nebuchadnezzar  intended 
to  have  brought  it  to,  and  it  would  again  have  been 
the  queen  of  the  East. 

"  Next  this  temple,  on  the  same  east  side  of  the 
river,  stood  the  old  palace  of  the  kings  of  Babylon, 
being  four  miles  in  compass.  Exactly  over  against 
it,  on  the  other  side  of  the  river,  stood  the  new  pal- 
ace, and  this  was  that  which  Nebuchadnezzar  built. 
It  was  four  times  as  big  as  the  former,  as  being 
eight  miles  in  compass.  It  was  surrounded  with 
three  walls  one  within  another,  and  strongly  fortified 
according  to  the  way  of  those  times.  But  what  was 
most  wonderful  in  it  were  the  hanging  gardens, 
which  were  of  so  celebrated  a  name  among  the 
Greeks. 

" The  other  works  attributed  to  Nebuchadnezzar 
by  ancient  Greek  authors  were,  the  banks  of  the 
river,  and  the  artificial  canals,  and  the  artificial  lake, 
which  were  made  for  draining  the  river  in  the  times 
of  the  overflows ;  for  on  the  coming  on  of  the  sum- 
mer, the  sun  melting  the  snow  on  the  mountains  of 
Armenia,  makes  the  Euphrates  to  overflow  its  banks, 
whereby  the  city  and  country  of  Babylon  suffering 
great  damage,  Nebuchadnezzar,  to  prevent  it,  cut, 
a  great  way  up  on  the  east  side  of  the  stream,  two 
artificial  canals  to  drain  these  overflowings  into  the 
Tigris." 


88  SEVEN    WONDERS    OF   THE   WORLD. 

Adjoining  the  palace,  and  within  the  general  in- 
closure,  were  The  Hanging  Gardens  ;  which  were 
constructed  by  the  king  to  gratify  his  wife  Amytis, 
who,  being  a  native  of  Media,  (she  was  the  daughter 
of  Astyages,  the  King  of  Media,)  desired  to  have 
some  imitation  of  her  native  hills  and  forests. 

"Within  the  walls  was  raised  a  lofty  mound, 
Where  flowers  and  aromatic  shrubs  adorn'd 
The  pensile  garden.    For  Nebasser's  queen, 
Fatigued  with  Babylonia's  level  plains, 
Sigh'd  for  her  Median  home,  where  nature's  hand 
Had  scoop'd  the  vale,  and  clothed  the  mountain's  side 
With  many  a  verdant  wood  :  nor  long  she  pined, 
Till  that  uxorious  monarch  called  on  art 
To  rival  nature's  sweet  variety. 
Forthwith  two  hundred  thousand  slaves  uprcar'd 
This  hill — egregious  work; — rich  fruits  o'erhang 
The  sloping  walks,  and  odorous  shrubs  entwine 
Their  undulating  branches." 

These  gardens  contained  a  square  of  above  four 
hundred  feet  on  each  side,  and  were  carried  up  in 
the  manner  of  several  large  terraces,  one  above  the 
other,  till  the  height  equaled  that  of  the  walls  of 
the  city.  The  ascent  from  terrace  to  terrace  was  by 
stairs  ten  feet  wide.  The  whole  pile  was  sustained 
by  vast  arches,  raised  on  other  arches  one  above 
another,  and  strengthened  by  a  wall,  surrounding  it 
on  every  side,  of  twenty-two  feet  in  thickness.  On 
the  top  of  the  arches  were  first  laid  large  flat  stones, 
sixteen  feet  long  and  four  broad  ;  over  these  was  a 
layer  of  weeds  mixed  with  a  large  quantity  of  bitu- 
men, on  which,  were  two  rows  of  bricks  closely  ce- 
mented together.  The  whole  was  covered  with  thick 
sheets  of  lead,  on  which  lay  the  mold  of  the  garden. 
And  all  this  floorage  was  contrived  to  keep  the 
moisture  of  the  mold  from  running  away  through 


BABYLON.  89 

the  arches.  The  earth  laid  thereon  was  so  deep, 
that  large  trees  might  take  root  in  it ;  and  with  such 
the  terraces  were  covered,  as  well  as  with  the  other 
plants  and  flowers  proper  to  adorn  a  pleasure  garden. 
The  trees  planted  there  are  represented  to  have  been 
of  various  kinds.  Here  was  planted  the  larch,  that 
curving  flings  its  arms  like  a  falliDg  wave ;  by  it  was 
seen  the  gray  livery  of  the  aspen ;  the  mournful  so- 
lemnity of  the  cypress  and  stately  grandeur  of  the 
cedar  intermingled  with  the  elegant  mimosa;  be- 
sides the  light  and  airy  foliage  of  the  silk-tasseled 
acacia,  with  its  clusters  of  beauteous  lilac  flowers 
streaming  in  the  wind  and  glittering  in  the  sun  ;  the 
umbrageous  foliage  of  the  chestnut,  and  ever-vary- 
ing verdure  of  the  poplar ;  the  birch  with  its  feath- 
ered branches  light  as  a  lady's  plumes, — all  com- 
prised with  the  freshness  of  the  running  stream,  over 
which  the  willow  waved  its  tresses — 

And  the  jessamine  faint,  and  the  sweet  tuberose, — 
The  sweetest  flower  for  scent  that  blows ; 
And  all  rare  blossoms  from  every  clime 
Grew  in  that  garden  in  perfect  prime. 

All  was  ranged  in  rows  on  the  side  of  the  ascent  as 
well  as  on  the  top,  that  at  a  distance  it  appeared  as 
an  immense  pyramid  covered  with  wood.  The  sit- 
uation of  this  extraordinary  efibrt  of  human  skill, 
aided  by  wealth,  was  adjoining  the  River  Euphrates. 
We  suppose  that  in  the  upper  terrace  was  an  engine, 
or  kind  of  pump,  by  which  the  water  was  drawn  up 
out  of  the  river,  and  from  thence  the  whole  gardens 
were  watered,  and  a  supply  of  the  pure  element 
furnished  to  the  fountains  and  reservoirs  for  cooling 
the  air.  In  the  spaces  between  the  several  arches, 
on  which  the  whole  structure  rested,  were  large  and 


90  SEVEN   WONDERS   OF   THE   WOELD. 

magnificent  apartments,  very  lightsome,  with  the 
advantage  of  possessing  beautiful  prospects. 

The  prospect  from  these  elevated  gardens  must 
have  been  grand  and  delightful.  From  the  upper 
area  was  obtained  a  view,  not  only  of  the  whole  city 
and  the  windings  of  the  Euphrates,  which  washed 
the  base  of  the  superstructure  three  hundred  feet 
below,  but  of  the  cultivated  environs  of  the  city,  and 
of  the  surrounding  desert,  extending  as  far  as  the 
eye  could  reach.  The  different  terraces  and  groves 
contained  fountains,  parterres,  seats,  and  banqueting- 
rooms,  and  combined  the  minute  beauties  of  flowers 
and  foliage,  with  masses  of  shade,  and  light  open 
vistas ;  the  retirement  of  the  grove,  with  the  vicinity 
of  civic  mirth  and  din ;  and  all  the  splendor  and 
luxury  of  Eastern  magnificence  in  art,  with  the 
simple  pleasures  of  verdant  and  beautiful  nature. 
This  surprising  and  laborious  experiment  we  must 
certainly  consider  as  a  strain  of  complaisance  in 
King  Nebuchadnezzar  to  his  Median  bride,  to  recon- 
cile her  to  the  naked  appearance  of  Babylon,  and 
induce  her  to  cease  regretting  the  hills  and  forests 
she  formerly  delighted  in,  and  the  charms  they  pre- 
sented to  her  youthful  imagination.  He  who  thought 
nothing  impossible  for  his  power  to  execute,  left 
nothing  unattempted  for  the  gratification  of  his  be- 
loved consort,  determined  to  raise  even  woods  and 
hills  within  the  precincts  of  a  city,  equal  to  those 
by  which  her  native  land  was  diversified. 

An  elevated  situation  in  a  warm  climate,  such  as 
Babylonia,  seems  to  have  been  an  essential  requisite 
to  a  royal  garden ;  probably  because  the  air  in  such 
regions  is  there  more  cool  and  salubrious — the  secu- 
rity from  hostile  attack  of  any  sort  more  certain — 


BABYLON.  91 

and  the  prospects  always  sublime.  We  are  told  by 
Diodorus  Siculus,  that  when  Semiramis  came  to 
Chanon,  a  city  of  Media,  she  discovered,  on  an  ele- 
vated plain,  a  rock  of  stupendous  height  and  of 
considerable  extent.  Here  she  formed  another  par- 
adise, exceedingly  large,  inclosing  a  rock  in  the 
midst  of  it,  on  which  she  erected  sumptuous  build- 
ings for  pleasure,  and  commanding  views  of  the 
plantations. 

The  Persians  and  their  monarchs  were  always  very 
fond  of  gardens,  and  Xenophon  says,  "wherever 
King  Cyrus  resides,  or  whatever  place  he  visits  in 
his  dominions,  he  takes  care  the  paradises  shall  be 
filled  with  everything  both  beautiful  and  useful  the 
soil  can  produce."  By  Plutarch  we  are  told,  that 
Ijysander,  the  Spartan  general,  praising  the  garden 
or  paradise  of  the  younger  Cyrus  at  Sardis,  the  king 
avowed  that  he  had  conceived,  disposed,  and  ad- 
justed the  whole  himself,  and  had  planted  many  of 
the  trees  with  his  own  hands. 

There  was  a  paradise  in  the  island  of  Panchea,  on 
the  coast  of  Arabia,  which  is  described  by  Diodorus 
Siculus  as  being  in  a  flourishing  state  300  B.  C.  It 
belonged  to  a  temple  of  Jupiter ;  it  had  a  copious 
fountain  and  river  for  irrigation,  with  the  usual  ac- 
companiments of  groves,  trees,  thickets,  and  flowers. 

The  grove  of  Orontes,  in  Syria,  is  mentioned  by 
Strabo  as  being  nine  miles  in  circumference.  It  was 
composed  of  laurels  and  cypress,  which  formed  in 
the  most  sultry  summers  a  cool  and  impenetrable 
shade.  A  thousand  streams  of  the  purest  water  is- 
suing from  every  hill  preserved  the  verdure  of  the 
earth  and  the  temperature  of  the  air ;  the  senses 
were  gratified  with  harmonious  sounds  and  aromatic 


92  SEVEN   WONDERS   OF  THE  WORLD. 

odors ;  and  the  peaceful  grove  was  consecrated  to 
health  and  joy,  to  luxury  and  love. 

At  the  present  day,  the  prevailing  plan  of  Persian 
gardens  is  that  of  long  parallel  walks,  shaded  by 
even  rows  of  tall  umbrageous  planes,  interspersed 
with  every  variety  of  fruit-trees  and  every  kind  of 
flowering  shrub.  Canals  flow  down  the  avenues  in 
the  same  undeviating  lines,  and  generally  terminate 
in  large  marble  basins,  containing  sparkling  fount- 
ains. Formal  as  this  may  seem,  and  reverse  of  pic- 
turesque,  the  effect  is  amazingly  grand.  The  num- 
ber of  avenues  and  canals  form  so  extended  a  sylvan 
scene,  that  viewed  from  any  point  it  appears  a  vast 
wood,  with  thousands  of  brilliant  rills  gliding  among 
the  thickets  ;  for  the  Persians  are  not  content  with 
one  fountain,  but  have  many  small  low  jets,  to  keep 
the  whole  surface  of  the  water  in  agitation,  and  thus 
heighten  the  sparkling  effects  through  the  foliage. 

The  art  of  cultivating  the  soil  is  conjectured  to 
have  been,  if  not  invented,  much  studied  and  im- 
proved in  Egypt;  but  though  some  testimony  re- 
mains of  their  agriculture,  we  possess  but  little  guide 
to  enable  us  to  form  any  idea  of  their  gardening. 
According  to  Herodotus,  the  sacred  groves  or  gar- 
dens were  often  of  extraordinary  beauty,  thus  design- 
edly corresponding  with  that  primeval  garden  they 
were  intended  to  represent.  In  times  of  its  pros- 
perity, Egypt  is  represented  to  have  been  as  a  deli- 
cious garden,  through  which  a  traveler  might  pro- 
ceed from  one  end  to  the  other  under  the  shade  of 
fruit-trees  of  all  kinds.  The  vine  was  extensively 
cultivated,  as  Herodotus  remarks,  that  at  the  festival 
of  Bubastis  more  wine  was  consumed  than  in  the 
whole  year  besides.     In  the  Book  of  Numbers,  the 


BABYLON.  93 

Israelites  murmur  that  the  place  they  are  brought 
to  has  not  the  advantages  of  nature  they  left  behind 
them  in  Eg}rpt ;  among  which  figs,  vines,  and  pome- 
granates are  expressly  enumerated. 

The  Old  Testament  makes  mention  of  gardens  be- 
longing to  Jewish  princes  and  subjects, — that  of 
King  Solomon  is  the  principal  one  on  record ;  it  is 
stated  to  have  contained  a  variety  of  plants,  curious 
as  objects  of  natural  history,— as  the  hyssop  which 
springeth  out  of  the  wall ;  odoriferous  and  showy 
flowers, — as  the  rose,  and  the  lily  of  the  valley,  the 
calamus,  the  camphire,  spikenard,  saffron,  and  cin- 
namon;— timber-trees,  as  the  cedar,  the  pine,  and 
the  fir ; — and  the  richest  fruits,  as  the  fig,  grape, 
apple,  date,  and  pomegranate.  Solomon  says  :  "I 
made  me  gardens  and  orchards,  and  I  planted  trees 
in  them,  and  all  kind  of  fruits.  I  made  me  pools  of 
water,  to  water  therewith  the  wood  that  bringeth 
forth  trees."  About  three  miles  south  of  Bethlehem 
there  are  three  tanks  or  pools,  yet  called  "  the  Cis- 
terns of  Solomon,"  which,  when  Maundrell  visited 
Palestine,  he  found  full  of  water ;  recent  travelers, 
however,  say  they  are  dry  and  in  ruins,  through 
neglect ;  but  their  state  is  such  that  they  might  be 
restored  at  a  small  expense.  The  source  from  which 
they  were  supplied  is  a  fountain  about  a  furlong 
distant.  There  are  the  remains  of  an  aqueduct  of 
brick  pipes,  which  received  the  stream  running  from 
the  pools,  and  carried  it  by  many  turnings  and  wind- 
ings through  the  mountains  to  Jerusalem. 

Some  writers  consider  the  existence  of  these  cele- 
brated gardens  of  Babylon  as  problematical,  from 
the  fact  of  some  of  the  Roman  historians  terming 
them  "the  fabulous  wonders  of  the  Greeks;"  but 


94:  SEVEN   WONDERS   OF  THE   WOULD. 

when  we  find,  by  the  quotation  we  have  made  from 
the  sacred  volume,  that,  live  hundred  years  before 
the  time  of  their  formation,  vast  expenses  were 
incurred  by  the  Jewish  monarch  for  like  purposes 
of  gratification,  and  that  in  the  neighboring  king- 
dom of  Persia,  throughout  all  ages,  the  cultivation 
of  all  kinds  of  trees  and  fruits,  that  might  delight 
the  eye  or  charm  the  sense,  has  ever  continued, 
it  requires  no  very  great  stretch  of  faith  to  suppose 
there  is  not,  in  the  accounts  we  have  given,  any 
exaggeration. 

From  Rich's  "Memoirs  on  Babylon,"  and  Sir 
R,.  K.  Porter's  "  Travels,"  we  gather  all  the  informa- 
tion that  can  be  obtained  from  an  inspection  of  the 
remains  of  this  wondrous  city  of  the  East.  It  is 
most  probable  that  when  these  ruins  shall  undergo 
the  careful  examination  that  Mr.  Layard  has  so 
recently  made  at  Nineveh,  very  interesting  results 
will  be  obtained.  •  » 

The  whole  country  between  Bagdad  and  Hillah 
is  a  perfectly  flat  and  (with  the  exception  of  a  few 
spots  as  you  approach  the  latter  place)  uncultivated 
waste.  That  it  was  at  some  former  period  in  a  far 
different  state,  is  evident  from  the  number  of  canals 
by  which  it  is  traversed,  now  dry  and  neglected, 
and  the  quantity  of  heaps  of  earth,  covered  with 
fragments  of  brick  and  broken  tiles,  which  are  seen 
in  every  direction, — the  indisputable  traces  of  for- 
mer population.  At  present  the  only  inhabitants 
of  this  tract  are  the  Zobeide  Arabs,  the  sheikh  of 
which  tribe  is  responsible  for  the  security  of  the 
road,  which  is  so  much  frequented  that  robberies 
are  comparatively  seldom  heard  of.  At  convenient 
distances,  khans  or  caravansaries  are  erected  for  the 


BABYLON.  95 

accommodation  of  travelers,  and  to  each  of  them  is 
attached  a  small  village  of  fellahs. 

At  the  village  of  Mohawil  is  a  large  canal,  with 
a  bridge  over  it ;  beyond  this  everything  announces 
an  approach  to  the  remains  of  a  great  city.  The 
ruins  of  Babylon  may  in  fact  be  said  almost  to  com- 
mence from  this  spot,  the  whole  country  between  it 
and  Hillah  exhibiting,  at  intervals,  traces  of  building, 
in  which  are  discoverable  burned  and  unburned 
bricks  and  bitumen ;  three  mounds  in  particular 
attract  attention  from  their  magnitude.  The  ground 
to  the  right  and  left  of  the  road  bears  the  appear- 
ance of  being  partially,  and  occasionally,  a  morass, 
though  at  times  it  is  perfectly  dry :  the  road,  which 
is  due  south,  lies  within  a  quarter  of  a  mile  of  the 
celebrated  mass,  called  by  Pietro  della  Valle  the 
Tower  of  Belus.  Hillah  is  nine  miles  from  Moha- 
wil, and  nearly  forty-eight  from  Bagdad. 

Hillah  is  called  by  Abulfeda,  Hillah  Benne  Mo- 
zeid:  he,  and  the  Turkish  geographer  who  copies 
him,  say  it  was  built,  or  rather  augmented,  by  Saif- 
cd-Doulah,  in  the  year  of  the  Hejira  495,  or  A.  D. 
1101-2,  in  the  land  of  Babel.  The  Turkish  geog- 
rapher appears  to  place  the  ruins  of  Babylon  con- 
siderably more  to  the  northward,  in  the  direction  of 
Sura  and  Felugiah.  The  district  called  by  the 
natives  El-Aredth  Babel  extends  on  both  sides  the 
Euphrates.  Its  latitude,  according  to  Niebuhr,  is 
32°  28',  and  it  is  situated  on  the  western  bank  of 
the  Euphrates,  a  few  shops  and  huts  only  being  on 
the  eastern.  It  is  meanly  built,  and  its  population 
does  not  exceed  between  six  thousand  and  seven 
thousand,  consisting  of  Arabs  and  Jews,  (who  have 
one  synagogue,)  there  being  no  Christians,  and  only 


96     SEVEN  WONDERS  OF  THE  WORLD. 

such  Turks  as  are  employed  in  the  government.  It 
is  divided  into  seven  small  mahalles  or  parishes ;  but 
there  is  only  one  mosque  in  the  town,  all  the  other 
j)laces  of  worship  being  mere  ibadetgahs  or  oratories. 
The  walls  are  of  mud,  and  present  a  truly  con- 
temptible appearance ;  but  the  present  pasha  of 
Bagdad  has  ordered  a  new  wall  to  be  constructed 
of  the  finest  Babylonian  bricks.  The  gates  are 
three  in  number,  and,  as  usual  in  the  East,  each 
takes  the  name  of  the  principal  place  it  leads  to, 
the  northern  one  being  called  the  gate  of  Hussein 
or  Kerbela,  the  center  that  of  Tahmasia,  (a  large 
village  in  the  neighborhood,)  and  the  southern  the 
gate  of  Nejef  or  Imam  Ali.  The  little  street  on  the 
eastern  side  is  also  closed  by  a  gate,  or  rather  door. 
The  gardens  on  both  sides  the  river  are  very  exten- 
sive, so  that  the  town  itself,  from  a  little  distance, 
appears  imbosomed  in  a  wood  of  date-trees.  On  the 
outer  verge  of  the  gardens  on  the  west,  small  redans 
are  established,  within  sight  and  hearing  of  each 
other,  in  each  of  which  a  matchlockman  mounts 
guard  at  night ;  and  for  greater  security  against  the 
marauders  of  the  desert,  the  late  Ali  Pasha  dug  an 
ample  trench  round  the  whole,  and  built  a  citadel 
(which,  as  usual  in  these  countries,  is  nothing  more 
than  a  square  inclosure)  in  the  town,  on  the  bank 
of  the  river.     Mr.  Bich,  in  his  Memoir,  says : — 

"  Among  the  gardens  a  few  hundred  yards  to  the 
west  of  the  Husseinia  gate  is  the  Mesjid-el-Shems, 
a  mosque  built  on  the  spot  where  popular  tradition 
says  a  miracle,  similar  to  that  of  the  prophet  Joshua, 
was  wrought  in  favor  of  Ali,  and  from  this  the 
mosque  derives  its  appellation.  It  is  a  small  build- 
ing, having   instead  of  a   minaret   an   obelisk,  or 


BABYLON.  97 

rather  hollow  cone  fretted  on  the  outside  like  a1  pine- 
apple, placed  on  an  octagonal  base :  this  form,  which 
is  a  very  curious  one,  I  have  observed  in  several 
very  old  structures,  particularly  the  tomb  of  Zo- 
beide,  the  wife  of  Haroun-al-Raschid,  at  Bagdad, 
and  I  am  informed  that  it  cannot  now  be  imitated. 
On  the  top  of  the  cone  is  a  mud  cap,  elevated  on  a 
pole,  resembling  the  cap  of  liberty.  This,  they  say, 
revolves  with  the  sun;  a  miracle  I  had  not  the 
curiosity  to  verify.  The  inside  of  the  mosque  is 
supported  by  rows  of  short  pillars  about  two  feet  in 
girth :  from  the  top  of  each  spring  pointed  arches, 
in  form  and  combination  resembling  in  a  striking 
manner  the  Gothic  architecture.  It  contains  nothing 
remarkable  except  what  the  people  show  as  the  tomb 
of  the  prophet  Joshua.  This  country  abounds  in 
supposed  tombs  of  prophets.  On  the  Tigris,  be- 
tween Bagdad  and  Bussora,  they  show  the  sepulcher 
of  Ezra;  twelve  miles  in  the  Desert,  to  the  S.  "W. 
of  Hillah,  is  that  of  Ezekiel ;  and  to  the  southward, 
the  tomb  of  Job :  the  two  former  are  places  of  pil- 
grimage of  the  Jews,  who  do  not  acknowledge  those 
of  Job  and  Joshua. 

The  district  of  Hillah  extends  from  Husseinia, 
(which  is  a  canal  leading  from  the  Euphrates  near 
Musseib  to  Imam  Hussein,)  on  the  north,  to  the 
town  of  Hasca  on  the  south.  It  is  governed  by  a 
bey,  who  is  always  a  Turk  or  Georgian,  appointed 
by  the  Pasha  of  Bagdad,  from  whom  the  government 
is  farmed  for  a  stipulated  yearly  sum.  There  is  also 
a  sirdar,  or  commandant  of  janizaries,  and  a  cadi, 
whose  office,  unlike  any  other  of  the  same  kind  in 
Turkey,  has  been  continued  in  the  same  family  for 
upward  of  a  century.     The  inhabitants  of  Hillah 


98     SEVEN  WONDERS  OP  THE  WORLD. 

bear  a  very  bad  character.  The  air  is  salubrious, 
and  the  soil  extremely  fertile,  producing  great  quan- 
tities of  rice,  dates,  and  grain  of  different  kinds, 
though  it  is  not  cultivated  to  above  half  the  degree 
of  which  it  is  susceptible. 

The  grand  cause  of  this  fertility  is  the  Euphrates, 
the  banks  of  which  are  lower  and  the  stream  more 
equal  than  the  Tigris.     Strabo  says  that  it  was  a 
stadium  in  breadth  at  Babylon ;  according  to  Ren- 
nell,  about  four  hundred  and  ninty-one  English  feet; 
or  D'Anville's  still  more  reduced  scale,  three  hun- 
dred and  thirty.     Niebuhr  says,  at  Hillah  it  is  four 
hundred  Danish  feet  broad  ;  my  measurement  by  a 
graduated   line   at  the  bridge  there,  brings  it  to 
seventy-five  fathoms,  or  four  hundred^and  fifty  feet ; 
its  breadth,  however,  varies  in  its  passage  through 
the  ruins.     Its  depth  I  found  to  be  two  and  a  half 
fathoms,  and  the  current  runs  at  the  medium  rate  of 
about  two  knots  ;  when  lowest,  being  probably  half 
a  knot  less,  and  when  full,  a  knot  more.     The  Tigris 
is  infinitely  more  rapid,  having  a  current  of  near 
seven  knots  when  at  its  height.    The  Euphrates  rises 
at  an  earlier  period  than  the  Tigris ;  in  the  middle 
of  the  winter  it  increases  a  little,  but  falls  again  soon 
after  ;  in  March  it  again  rises ;  and  in  the  latter  end 
of  April  is  at  its  full,  continuing  so  till  the  latter 
end  of  June.     When  at  its  height  it  overflows  the 
surrounding  country,  fills  the  canals  dug  for  its  re- 
ception, without  the  slightest  exertion  of  labor,  and 
facilitates  agriculture  in  a  surprising  degree.     The 
ruins  of  Babylon  are  then  inundated  so  as  to  render 
many  parts  of  them  inaccessible,  by  converting  the 
valleys  among  them  into  morasses.     But  the  most 
remarkable  inundation  of  the  Euphrates  is  at  Felu- 


BABYLON.  99 

giah,  twelve  leagues  to  the  westward  of  Bagdad, 
where,  on  breaking  down  the  dike  which  confines 
its  waters  within  their  proper  channel,  they  flow 
over  the  country,  and  extend  nearly  to  the  hanks 
of  the  Tigris,  with  a  depth  sufficient  to  render  them 
navigable  for  rafts  and  flat-bottomed  boats. 

The  water  of  the  Euphrates  is  esteemed  more  salu- 
brious than  that  of  the  Tigris.  Its  general  course 
through  the  site  of  Babylon  is  N.  and  S.  I  ques- 
tioned the  fishermen  who  ply  on  the  river,  respect- 
ing its  bottom,  and  they  all  agreed  that  bricks  and 
other  fragments  of  building  are  very  commonly 
found  in  it.  From  the  gentleness  of  the  current, 
regularity  of  the  stream,  and  equal  substance  of  the 
banks,  I  am  of  opinion  that  the  Euphrates  would  not 
naturally  alter  its  course  in  any  great  degree,  cer- 
tainly not  so  much  as  the  Tigris,  whose  variations 
in  a  few  years  are  often  very  considerable.  A  vari- 
ety of  circumstances  may,  however,  have  caused 
some  alterations.  It  is  evident  from  what  Strabo 
says,  that  the  neglected  state  of  the  canals  had  con- 
siderably injured  the  original  stream,  and  it  is  pos- 
sible that  a  part  of  it  might  have  continued  to  flow 
through  the  channel  cut  by  Cyrus  for  a  long  time 
afterward.  That  some  change  in  the  course  of  the 
river  has  taken  place,  will  be  hereafter  shown. 

I  have  before  remarked,  that  the  whole  of  this  part 
of  Mesopotamia  is  intersected  by  canals.  These  are 
of  all  ages :  and  it  is  not  uncommon  to  see  workmen 
employed  in  excavating  a  new  canal,  close  to,  and 
parallel  with,  an  old  one,  when  it  might  be  supposed 
that  the  cleansing  of  the  old  one  would  be  a  work  of 
much  less  toil.  The  high  embankments  of  these 
canals  easily  impose  on  the  unpracticed  eye  for  ruins 


100    SEVEN  WONDERS  OF  THE  WORLD. 

of  buildings,  especially  when  the  channel  has  been 
filled  up  by  the  accession  of  soil,  and  I  doubt  not 
are  the  origin  of  the  belief,  expressed  by  some  trav- 
elers, that  there  are  ruins  in  the  gardens  of  Hill  ah. 
Niebuhr  and  Otter  say  that  the  remains  of  walls  and 
edifices  are  in  existence,  though  enveloped  in  woods 
and  coppices.  Otter  in  particular  observes  that  the 
site  of  Babylon  is  generally  covered  with  wood:  this 
is  certainly  incorrect.  On  the  ruins  of  Babylon 
there  is  not  a  single  tree  growing,  excepting  the  old 
one  which  I  shall  hereafter  have  occasion  to  mention ; 
but  in  the  intervals  of  the  ruins,  where  in  all  prob- 
ability no  building  ever  stood,  there  are  some  patch- 
es of  cultivation.  I  made  the  most  diligent  search 
all  through  the  gardens,  but  found  not  the  slightest 
vestige  of  ruins,  though  previously  I  heard  of  many, 
— an  example  of  the  value  of  information  resting 
solely  on  the  authority  of  the  natives.  The  reason 
is  obvious.  Ruins  composed,  like  those  of  Babylon, 
of  heaps  of  rubbish  impregnated  with  niter,  cannot 
be  cultivated,  and  any  inferior  mound  would  of 
course  be  leveled  in  making  the  garden. 

In  such  a  soil  as  that  of  Babylon  it  appears  sur- 
prising how  long  some  of  the  canals  have  remained. 
The  Naher  Malcha,  a  work  of  the  Babylonian  mon- 
archs,  might  still  be  effectually  repaired,  and  it  is 
probable  that  many  of  the  canals  now  seen  on  the 
site  of  Babylon  may  have  been  in  existence  when  it 
was  a  flourishing  city.  Some  of  the  canals  were 
used  for  the  purpose  of  navigation,  and  Alexander 
took  great  pains  to  cleanse  and  restore  those  that 
were  out  of  order.  Aristobulus,  quoted  by  Strabo, 
says  that  he  went  into  these  canals  in  a  boat,  which 
he   steered   himself,   and  inspected  the  repairs  in 


BABYLON. 


101 


person,  in  presence  of  a  multitude  of  spectators, 
cleansing  the  mouths  of  some  which  were  choked 
up  with  mud,  and  blocking  up  others.  In  one  in- 
stance, where  the  canal  led  toward  the  morasses  and 
lakes  of  the  Arabian  side,  he  opened  a  new  mouth 
thirty  stadia  from  the  old  one,  in  a  more  stony  place, 
to  insure  greater  durability.  He  also  dug  basins  for 
his  fleet ;  and  in  performing  these  works,  it  is  said 
the  graves  of  many  of  the  kings  and  princes  who 
were  buried  in  the  morasses  were  dug  up  ;  by  which 
I  understand  that  the  bad  state  of  the  canals  had 
caused  inundations  in  the  places  of  sepulture.  From 
the  yielding  nature  of  the  soil  I  can  readily  conceive 
the  ease  with  which  Cyrus  dug  a  trench  round  the 
city,  sufficient  to  contain  the  river.  I  have  not, 
however,  been  able  to  discover  any  traces  either  of 
this  trench,  or  the  lines  of  circumvallation. 

The  ruins  of  the  eastern  quarter  of  Babylon  com- 
mence about  two  miles  above  Hillah,  and  consist 
of  two  large  masses  or  mounds  connected  with,  and 
lying  N.  and  S.  of  each  other,  and  several  smaller 
ones  which  cross  the  plain  at  different  intervals. 
The  northern  termination  of  this  plain  is  Pietro  della 
Valle's  ruin,  from  the  S.  E.  angle  of  which  (to  which 
it  evidently  once  joined,  being  only  obliterated  there 
by  two  canals)  proceeds  a  narrow  ridge  or  mound 
of  earth,  wearing  the  appearance  of  having  been  a 
boundary  wall.  This  ridge  forms  a  kind  of  circular 
inclosure,  and  joins  the  S.  E.  point  of  the  most 
southerly  of  the  two  grand  masses. 

The  river  bank  is  skirted  by  a  ruin,  which  I  shall, 
for  perspicuity's  sake,  call  its  embankment,  though, 
as  will  hereafter  be  seen,  there  is  good  reason  for 
supposing  it  never  was  intended  for  one.     It  com- 


102  SEVEN    WONDEES   OF   THE   WORLD. 

mences  on  a  line  with  the  lower  extremity  of  the 
southernmost  grand  mound,  and  is  there  nearly 
three  hundred  yards  broad  at  its  base,  from  the  angle 
of  which  a  mound  proceeds,  taking  a  sweep  to  the 
S.  E.,  so  as  to  be  nearly  parallel  with,  and  forty 
yards  more  to  the  south  than  that  boundary :  this 
loses  itself  in  the  plain,  and  is  in  fact  the  most 
southerly  of  all  the  ruins.  The  embankment  is  con- 
tinued in  a  right  line  to  the  north,  and  diminishes 
in  breadth,  but  increases  in  elevation  till  at  the  dis- 
tance of  seven  hundred  and  fifty  yards  from  its  com- 
mencement, where  it  is  forty  feet  perpendicular 
height,  and  is  interrupted  by  a  break  nearly  of  the 
same  breadth  with  the  river :  at  this  point  a  triangu- 
lar piece  of  ground  commences,  recently  gained 
from  the  river,  which  deserts  its  original  channel 
above,  and  returns  to  it  again  here :  this  gained 
ground  is  one  hundred  and  ten  yards-  in  length,  and 
two  hundred  and  fifty  in  breadth  at  its  angle  or 
point,  and  along  its  base  are  traces  of  a  continuation 
of  the  embankment,  which  is  there  a  narrow  line 
that  soon  loses  itself.  Above  this,  the  bank  of  the 
river  affords  nothing  worthy  of  remark ;  for  though 
in  some  places  there  are  slight  vestiges  of  building, 
they  were  evidently  not  connected  with  the  above- 
mentioned  embankment. 

The  whole  of  the  area  inclosed  by  the  boundary 
on  the  east  and  south,  and  river  on  the  west,  is  two 
miles  and  six  hundred  yards  in  breadth  from  E.  to 
YV\,  as  much  from  Pietro  della  Valle's  ruin  to  the 
southern  part  of  the  boundary,  or  two  miles  and  one 
thousand  yards  to  the  most  southerly  mound  of  all, 
which  has  been  already  mentioned  as  branching  off 
from  the  embankment.    This  space  is  again  longitu- 


BABYLON.  103 

dinally  subdivided  into  nearly  half,  by  a  straight  line 
of  the  same  kind  with  the  boundary,  but  much  its 
inferior  in  point  of  size.  This  may  have  crossed  the 
whole  inclosure  from  1ST.  to  S.,  but  at  present  only  a 
mile  of  it  remains.  Exactly  parallel  with  it,  and 
a  little  more  than  one  hundred  yards  to  the  west  of 
it,  is  another  line  precisely  of  a  similar  description, 
but  still  smaller  and  shorter :  its  northern  termina- 
tion is  a  high  heap  of  rubbish,  of  a  curious  red 
color,  nearly  three  hundred  yards  long,  and  one 
hundred  broad,  terminating  on  the  top  in  a  ridge : 
it  has  been  dug  into  in  various  parts,  but  few  or  no 
fine  old  bricks  have  been  fomid  in  it.  All  the  ruins 
of  Babylon  are  contained  within  the  western  divis- 
ion of  the  area,  i.  e.,  between  the  innermost  of  these 
lines  and  the  river,  there  being  no  vestiges  of  build- 
ing in  the  eastern  or  largest  division  between  the 
outermost  line  and  the  external  boundary. 

Before  entering  into  a  minute  description  of  the 
ruins,  to  avoid  repetition,  it  is  necessary  to  state  that 
they  consist  of  mounds  of  earth,  formed  by  the  de- 
composition of  building,  channeled  and  furrowed 
by  the  weather,  and  the  surface  of  them  strewed 
with  pieces  of  brick,  bitumen,  and  pottery. 

On  taking  a  view  of  the  ruins  from  south  to  north, 
the  first  object  that  attracts  attention  is  the  low 
mound  connected  with  the  embankment ;  on  it  arc 
two  little  parallel  walls  close  together,  and  only  a 
few  feet  in  height  and  breadth,  which  bear  indis- 
putable marks  of  having  formed  part  of  a  Mohamme- 
dan oratory  or  koiibbe.  This  ruin  is  called  Jumjama, 
(Calvary,)  and  gives  its  name  to  a  village  a  little  to 
the  left  of  it.  To  this  succeeds  the  first  grand  mass 
of  ruins,  which  is  one  thousand  one  hundred  yards 


104:  SEVEN   WONDERS   OF   THE   WOKLD. 

in  length,  and  eight  hundred  in  greatest  breadth,  its 
figure  nearly  resembling  that  of  a  quadrangle :  its 
height  is  irregular,  but  the  most  elevated  part  may 
be  about  fifty  or  sixty  feet  above  the  level  of  the 
plain,  and  it  has  been  dug  into  for  the  purpose  of 
procuring  bricks.  Just  below  the  highest  part  of  it 
is  a  small  dome  in  an  oblong  inclosure,  which,  it  is 
pretended,  contains  the  body  of  a  son  of  Ali,  named 
Amran,  together  with  those  of  seven  of  his  com- 
panions, all  slain  in  the  battle  of  Hillah.  Unfor- 
tunately for  the  credit  of  the  tradition,  however,  it 
is  proved  on  better  authority  to  be  a  fraud  not  un- 
common in  these  parts,  Ali  having  had  no  son  of 
this  description.  From  the  most  remarkable  object 
on  it,  I  shall  distinguish  this  mound  by  the  name  of 
Amran. 

On  the  north  is  a  valley  of  five  hundred  and 
fifty  yards  in  length,  the  area  of  which  is  covered 
with  tussocks  of  rank  grass,  and  crossed  by  a  line 
of  ruins  of  very  little  elevation.  To  this  succeeds 
the  second  grand  heap  of  ruins,  the  shape  of  which 
is  nearly  a  square,  of  seven  hundred  yards'  length 
and  breadth,  and  its  S.  ~W.  angle  is  connected 
with  the  N.  W.  angle  of  the  mounds  of  Amran  by 
a  ridge  of  considerable  height,  and  nearly  a  hundred 
yards  in  breadth.  This  is  the  place  where  Beau- 
champ  made  his  observations,  and  it  is  certainly  the 
most  interesting  part  of  the  ruins  of  Babylon :  every 
vestige  discoverable  in  it  declares  it  to  have  been 
composed  of  buildings  far  superior  to  all  the  rest 
which  have  left  traces  in  the  eastern  quarter:  the 
bricks  are  of  the  finest  description ;  and  notwith- 
standing this  is  the  grand  storehouse  of  them,  ami 
that  the  greatest  supplies  have  been,  and  are  now 


BABYLON.  105 

constantly  drawn  from  it,  they  appear  still  to  be 
abundant.  But  the  operation  of  extracting  the 
bricks  has  caused  great  confusion,  and  contributed 
much  to  increase  the  difficulty  of  deciphering  the 
original  design  of  this  mound,  as  in  search  of  them 
the  workmen  pierce  into  it  in  every  direction,  hol- 
lowing out  deep  ravines  and  pits,  and  throwing  up 
the  rubbish  in  heaps  on  the  surface.  In  some  places 
they  have  bored  into  the  solid  mass,  forming  wind- 
ing caverns  and  subterranean  passages,  which,  from 
their  being  left  without  adequate  support,  frequently 
bury  the  workmen  in  the  rubbish.  In  all  these  ex- 
cavations, walls  of  burned  brick,  laid  in  lime-mortar 
of  a  very  good  quality,  are  seen ;  and  in  addition  to 
the  substances  generally  strewed  on  the  surfaces  of 
all  these  mounds,  we  here  find  fragments  of  alabaster 
vessels,  fine  earthenware,  marble,  and  great  quantities 
of  varnished  tiles,  the  glazing  and  coloring  of  which 
are  surprisingly  fresh.  In  a  hollow  near  the  southern 
part  I  found  a  sepulchral  urn  of  earthenware,  which 
had  been  broken  in  digging,  and  near  it  lay  some 
human  bones,  which  pulverized  with  the  touch. 

To  be  more  particular  in  my  description  of  this 
mound,  not  more  than  two  hundred  yards  from  its 
northern  extremity  is  a  ravine,  hollowed  out  by 
those  who  dig  for  bricks,  in  length  near  one  hundred 
yards,  and  thirty  feet  wide  by  forty  or  fifty  deep. 
On  one  side  of  it  a  few  yards  of  wall  remain  stand- 
ing, the  face  of  which  is  very  clean  and  perfect, 
and  it  appears  to  have  been  the  front  of  some  build- 
ing. The  opposite  side  is  so  confused  a  mass  of 
rubbish,  that  it  should  seem  the  ravine  had  been 
worked  through  a  solid  building.  Under  the  foun- 
dations at  the  southern  end  an  opening  is  made, 


106    SEVEN  WONDERS  OF  THE  WORLD. 

which  discovers  a  subterranean  passage,  floored  and 
walled  with  large  bricks,  laid  in  bitumen,  and  cov- 
ered over  with  pieces  of  sandstone,  a  yard  thick, 
and  several  yards  long:  the  weight  of  the  whole 
being  so  great  as  to  have  given  a  considerable  degree 
of  obliquity  to  the  side- walls  of  the  passage.     It  is 
half  full  of  brackish  water,  (probably  rain-water  im- 
pregnated with  niter,  in  filtering  through  the  ruins, 
which  are  all  very  productive  of  it,)  and  the  work- 
men say  that  some  way  on,  it  is  high  enough  for  a 
man  on  horseback  to  pass :  as  much  as  I  saw  of  it, 
it  was  near  seven  feet  in  height,  and  its  course  to  the 
south.     The  superstructure  over  the  passage  is  ce- 
mented with  bitumen,  other  parts  of  the  ravine  with 
mortar,  and  the  bricks  have  all  writing  on  them. 
The  northern  end  of  the  ravine  appears  to  have  been 
crossed  by  an  extremely  thick  wall  of  yellowish 
brick,  cemented  with  a  brilliant  white  mortar,  which 
has  been  broken  through  in  hollowing  it  out ;  and 
a  little  to  the  north  of  it  I  discovered  what  Beau- 
champ  saw  imperfectly,  and  understood  from  the 
natives  to  be  an  idol.     I  was  told  the  same  thing, 
and  that  it  was  discovered  by  an  old  Arab  in  dig- 
ging, but  that  not  knowing  what  to  do  with  it,  he 
covered  it  up  again.     On  sending  for  the  old  man, 
who  pointed  out  the  spot,  I  set  a  number  of  men  to 
work,  who,  after  a  day's  hard  labor,  laid  open  enough 
of  the  statue  to  show  that  it  was  a  lion  of  colossal 
dimensions,  standing  on  a  pedestal,  of  a  coarse  kind 
of  gray  granite,  and  of  rude  workmanship :   in  the 
mouth  was  a  circular  aperture,  into  which  a  man 
might  introduce  his  fist. 

A  little  to  the  west  of  the  ravine  is  the  next  re- 
markable object,  called  by  the  natives  the  Kasr,  or 


BABYLON".  107 

Palace,  by  which  appellation  I  shall  designate  the 
whole  mass.  It  is  a  very  remarkable  ruin,  which, 
being  uncovered,  and  in  part  detached  from  the  rub- 
bish, is  visible  from  a  considerable  distance,  but  so 
surprisingly  fresh  in  its  appearance,  that  it  was  only 
after  a  minute  inspection  I  was  satisfied  of  its  being 
in  reality  a  Babylonian  remain.  It  consists  of  several 
walls  and  piers,  (which  face  the  cardinal  points,) 
eight  feet  in  thickness,  in  some  places  ornamented 
with  niches,  and  in  others  strengthened  by  pilasters 
and  buttresses,  built  of  fine  burned  brick,  (still  per- 
fectly clean  and  sharp,)  laid  in  lime-cement  of  such 
tenacity,  that  those  whose  business  it  is  to  find  bricks, 
have  given  up  working,  on  account  of  the  extreme 
difficulty  of  extracting  them  whole.  The  tops  of 
these  walls  are  broken,  and  may  have  been  much 
higher.  On  the  outside  they  have  in  some  places 
been  cleared  nearly  to  the  foundations,  but  the  in- 
ternal spaces  formed  by  them  are  yet  filled  with  rub- 
bish, in  some  parts  almost  to  their  summit.  One 
part  of  the  wall  has  been  split  into  three  parts,  and 
overthrown  as  if  by  an  earthquake  ;  some  detached 
walls  of  the  same  kind,  standing  at  different  distances, 
show  what  remains  to  have  been  only  a  small  part 
of  the  original  fabric ;  indeed,  it  appears  that  the 
passage  in  the  ravine,  together  with  the  wall  which 
crosses  its  upper  end,  was  connected  with  it.  There 
are  some  hollows  underneath,  in  which  several  per- 
sons have  lost  their  lives ;  so  that  no  one  will  now 
venture  into  them,  and  their  entrances  have  now 
become  choked  up  with  rubbish.  Near  this  ruin  is 
a  heap  of  rubbish,  the  sides  of  which  are  curiously 
streaked  by  the  alternation  of  its  materials,  the  chief 
part  of  which,  it  is  probable,  was  unburned  brick,  of 


108  SEVEN    WONDERS    OF   THE   WORLD. 

which  I  found  a  small  quantity  in  the  neighborhood, 
but  no  reeds  were  discoverable  in  the  interstices. 
There  are  two  paths  near  this  ruin,  made  by  the 
workmen,  who  carry  down  their  bricks  to  the  river 
side,  whence  they  are  transported  by  boats  to  Hillah ; 
and  a  little  to  the  N.  E".  E.  of  it  is  the  famous  tree 
which  the  natives  call  Athele,  and  maintain  to  have 
been  flourishing  in  ancient  Babylon,  from  the  destruc- 
tion of  which,  they  say,  God  purposely  preserved  it, 
that  it  might  afford  Ali  a  convenient  place  to  tie  up 
his  horse  after  the  battle  of  Hillah !  It  stands  on  a 
kind  of  ridge,  and  nothing  more  than  one  side  of  its 
trunk  remains,  (by  which  it  appears  to  have  been  of 
considerable  girth :)  yet  the  branches  at  the  top  are 
still  perfectly  verdant,  and  gently  waving  in  the 
wind,  produce  a  melancholy  rustling  sound.  It  is 
an  evergreen,  something  resembling  the  lignum  vitce, 
and  of  a  kind,  I  believe,  not  common  in  this  j?art  of 
the  country,  though  I  am  told  there  is  a  tree  of  the 
same  description  at  Bussora. 

All  the  people  of  the  country  assert  that  it  is  ex- 
tremely dangerous  to  approach  this  mound  after 
nightfall,  on  account  of  the  multitude  of  evil  spirits 
by  which  it  is  haunted. 

It  will  not  be  necessary  to  describe  the  inferior 
heaps,  which  cross  the  plain  between  the  two  prin- 
cipal mounds  and  the  inner  line ;  but,  previous  to 
giving  an  account  of  the  last  grand  ruin,  I  shall  say 
a  few  words  more  on  the  embankment  of  the  river, 
which  is  separated  from  the  mounds  of  Amran  and 
the  Kasr  by  a  winding  valley  or  ravine,  one  hundred 
and  fifty  yards  in  breadth,  the  bottom  of  which  is 
white  with  niter,  and  apparently  never  had  any 
buildings  in  it,  except  a  small  circular  heap  in  the 


BABYLON.  109 

center  of  it.  The  whole  embankment  on  the  river 
side  is  abrupt,  perpendicular,  and  shivered  by  the 
action  of  the  water ;  at  the  foot  of  the  most  elevated 
and  narrowest  part  of  it,  cemented  into  the  burned 
brick  wall  of  which  it  is  composed,  are  a  number  of 
urns  filled  with  human  bones,  which  had  not  under- 
gone the  action  of  fire.  The  river  appears  to  have 
encroached  here,  for  I  saw  a  considerable  quantity 
of  burned  bricks,  and  other  fragments  of  building 
in  the  water. 

A  mile  to  the  north  of  the  Kasr,  or  full  five  miles 
distant  from  Iiillah,  and  nine  hundred  and  fifty 
yards  from  the  river  bank,  is  the  last  ruin  of  this 
series,  which  has  been  described  by  Pietro  della 
Yalle,  who  determines  it  to  have  been  the  Tower  of 
Belus,  an  opinion  adopted  by  Rennell.  The  natives 
call  it  Mukallib£,  or,  according  to  the  vulgar  Arab 
pronunciation  of  these  parts,  Mujelibe,  meaning 
overturned ;  they  sometimes  also  apply  this  term  to 
the  mounds  of  the  Kasr.  It  is  of  an  oblong  shape, 
irregular  in -its  height  and  the  measurement  of  its 
sides,  which  face  the  cardinal  points ;  the  northern 
side  being  two  hundred  yards  in  length,  the  southern 
two  hundred  and  nineteen,  the  eastern  one  hundred 
and  eighty-two,  and  the  western  one  hundred  and 
thirty -six ;  the  elevation  of  the  S.E.,  or  highest  angle, 
one  hundred  and  forty-one  feet.  The  western  face, 
which  is  the  least  elevated,  is  the  most  interesting 
on  account  of  the  appearance  of  building  it  presents. 
Near  the  summit  of  it  appears  a  low  wall,  with  in- 
terruptions, built  of  unburned  bricks  mixed  up  with 
chopped  straw  or  reeds,  and  cemented  with  clay- 
mortar  of  great  thickness,  having  between  every 
layer  a  layer  of  reeds ;  and  on  the  north  side  are 


110  SEVEN   WONDERS   OF  THE   WORLD. 

also  some  vestiges  of  a  similar  construction.  The 
S.  "W.  angle  is  crowned  by  something  like  a  turret 
or  lantern:  the  other  angles  are  in  a  less  perfect 
state,  but  may  originally  have  been  ornamented  in 
a  similar  manner.  The  western  face  is  lowest,  and 
easiest  of  ascent,  the  northern  the  most  difficult. 
All  are  worn  into  furrows  by  the  weather ;  and  in 
some  places,  where  several  channels  of  rain  have 
united  together,  these  furrows  are  of  great  depth, 
and  penetrate  a  considerable  way  into  the  mound. 
The  summit  is  covered  with  heaps  of  rubbish,  in 
digging  into  some  of  which,  layers  of  broken  burned 
brick,  cemented  with  mortar,  are  discovered,  and 
whole  bricks  with  inscriptions  on  them  are  here 
and  there  found ;  the  whole  is  covered  with  innu- 
merable fragments  of  pottery,  brick,  bitumen, 
pebbles,  vitrified  brick  or  scoria,  and  even  shells, 
bits  of  glass,  and  mother-of-pearl.  On  asking  a 
Turk  how  he  imagined  these  latter  substances  were 
brought  there,  he  replied,  without  the  least  hesita- 
tion, 'By  the  deluge.'  There  are  many  dens  of 
wild  beasts  in  various  parts,  in  one  of  which  I  found 
the  bones  of  sheep  and  other  animals,  and  perceived 
a  strong  smell  like  that  of  a  lion.  I  also  found 
quantities  of  porcupine  quills,  and  in  most  of  the 
cavities  are  numbers  of  bats  and  owls.  It  is  a  curi- 
ous coincidence,  that  I  here  first  heard  the  oriental 
account  of  satyrs.  I  had  always  imagined  the  belief 
of  their  existence  was  confined  to  the  mythology  of 
the  West ;  but  a  tchoadar,  who  was  with  me  when 
I  examined  this  ruin,  mentioned  by  accident,  that  in 
this  desert  an  animal  is  found,  resembling  a  man 
from  the  head  to  the  waist,  but  having  the  thighs 
and  legs  of  a  sheep  or  goat ;  he  said  also  that  the 


BABYLON.  Ill 

Arabs  hunt  it  with  dogs,  and  eat  the  lower  parts, 
abstaining  from  the  upper,  on  account  of  their 
resemblance  to  those  of  the  human  species.  'But 
wild  beasts  of  the  desert  shall  lie  there,  and  their 
houses  shall  be  full  of  doleful  creatures ;  and  owls 
shall  dwell  there,  and  satyrs  shall  dance  there.' 
Isaiah  xiii,  21." 

In  the  northern  face  of  the  Mujelibe,  near  the 
summit,  is  a  niche  or  recess,  high  enough  for  a  man 
to  stand  upright  in,  at  the  back  of  which  is  a  low 
aperture  leading  to  a  small  cavity,  whence  a  passage 
branches  off  to  the  right,  sloping  upward  in  a  west- 
erly direction,  till  it  loses  itself  in  the  rubbish.  The 
natives  call  this  the  serdaub,  or  cellar ;  and  we  are 
informed  by  good  authority,  that  four  years  ago, 
some  men,  searching  in  it  for  bricks,  pulled  out  a 
quantity  of  marble,  and  afterward  a  coffin  of  mul- 
berry-wood, containing  a  human  body,  inclosed  in  a 
tight  wrapper,  and  apparently  partially  covered 
with  bitumen,  which  crumbled  into  dust  soon  after 
exposure  to  the  air.  This  account,  together  with 
its  appearing  the  most  favorable  spot  to  ascertain 
something  of  the  original  plan  of  the  whole,  induced 
Mr.  Rich  to  employ  men  to  work,  to  open  a  passage 
into  the  serdaub  from  above.  They  dug  into  a 
shaft  or  hollow  pier,  sixty  feet  square,  lined  with 
fine  brick  laid  in  bitumen,  and  filled  up  with  earth  ; 
in  this  they  found  a  brass  spike,  some  earthern 
vessels,  (one  of  which  was  very  thin,  and  had  the 
remains  of  fine  white  varnish  on  the  outside,)  and 
a  beam  of  date-tree  wood.  On  the  third  day's 
work  they  made  their  way  into  the  opening,  and 
discovered  a  narrow  passage  nearly  ten  feet  high, 
half  filled  with  rubbish,  flat  on  the  top,  and  exhibit- 


112  SEVEN   WONDERS    OF   THE   WORLD. 

ing  both,  burned  and  unburned  bricks ;  the  former 
with  inscriptions  on  them,  and  the  latter,  as  usual, 
laid  with  a  layer  of  reeds  between  every  row,  except 
in  one  or  two  courses  near  the  bottom,  where  they 
were  cemented  with  bitumen ;  a  curious  and  un- 
accountable circumstance.  This  passage  appeared 
as  if  it  originally  had  a  lining  of  fine  burned  brick, 
cemented  with  bitumen,  to  conceal  the  unburned 
brick,  of  which  the  body  of  the  building  was  prin- 
cipally composed.  Fronting  it  is  another  passage, 
(or  rather  a  continuation  of  the  same  to  the  eastward, 
in  which  direction  it  properly  extends  a  considerable 
distance,  perhaps  even  all  along  the  northern  front 
of  the  Mujelibe,)  choked  up  with  earth,  in  digging 
out  which  was  found,  near  the  top,  a  wooden  coffin, 
containing  a  skeleton  in  high  preservation.  Under 
the  head  of  the  coffin  was  a  round  pebble ;  attached 
to  the  coffin,  on  the  outside,  a  brass  bird,  and 
inside,  an  ornament  of  the  same  material,  which 
had  apparently  been  suspended  to  some  part  of  the 
skeleton.  These,  could  any  doubt  remain,  place 
the  antiquity  of  the  skeleton  beyond  all  dispute. 
This  being  extracted,  a  little  further  in  the  rubbish 
the  skeleton  of  a  child  was  found ;  and  it  is  probable 
that  the  whole  of  the  passage,  whatever  its  extent 
may  be,  was  occupied  in  a  similar  manner.  No 
skulls  were  found,  either  here  or  in  the  sepulchral 
urns  at  the  bank  of  the  river. 

At  the  foot  of  the  Mujelibe,  about  seventy  yards 
from  it,  on  the  northern  and  western  sides,  are  traces 
of  a  very  low  mound  of  earth,  which  may  have 
formed  an  inclosure  round  the  whole.  Further  to 
the  north  of  the  river  there  are  no  more  vestiges  of 
ruins ;  but  the  heaps,  in  the  direction  of  the  Bagdad 


BABYLON.  113 

road,  shall  be  examined  more  particularly  at  a  fu- 
ture opportunity. 

Having  now  done  with  the  eastern  side  of  the 
river,  we  shall  next  proceed  to  take  a  survey  of  all 
that  remains  of  Babylon  on  the  western.  The  loose 
and  inaccurate  accounts  of  some  modern  travelers 
have  misled  D' Anville  and  Rennell  into  the  belief 
of  there  being  considerable  ruins  on  the  western 
bank  of  the  river,  corresponding  with  those  we  have 
just  described  on  the  eastern.  That  this  is  not  the 
case,  Mr.  Rich  was  satisfied  by  the  view  he  obtained 
from  the  top  of  the  Mujelibe;  yet  he  determined, 
for  greater  accuracy,  to  examine  the  whole  bank 
minutely.  It  is  flat,  and  intersected  by  canals,  the 
principal  of  which  are  the  Tajeea,  or  Ali  Pasha's 
Trench,  and  the  canal  of  Tahmasia.  There  are  a 
few  small  villages  on  the  river,  inclosed  by  mud 
walls,  and  surrounded  by  cultivation ;  but  there  is 
not  the  slightest  vestige  of  ruins,  excepting  opposite 
the  mass  of  Amran,  where  are  two  small  mounds  of 
earth,  overgrown  with  grass,  forming  a  right  angle 
with  each  other,  and  a  little  further  on  are  two  si- 
milar ones.  These  do  not  exceed  a  hundred  yards 
in  extent,  and  the  place  is  called  by  the  peasants 
Anana.  To  the  north  the  country  has  a  verdant 
but  marshy  appearance. 

But  although  there  are  no  ruins  in  the  immediate 
vicinity  of  the  river,  by  far  the  most  stupendous  and 
surprising  mass  of  all  the  remains  of  Babylon  is 
situated  in  this  desert,  about  six  miles  to  the  south- 
west of  Hillah.  It  is  called  by  the  Arabs  Birs 
Nemroud,  by  the  Jews  Nebuchadnezzar 's  Prison. 

Mr.  Eich  says  he  visited  the  Birs  under  circum- 
stances favorable  to  the  grandeur  of  its  effect.    The 


114  SEVEN   W0NDEKS   OF  THE   WORLD. 

morning  was  at  first  stormy,  and  threatened  a  severe 
fall  of  rain ;  but  as  he  approached  the  object  of  his 
journey,  the  heavy  clouds  separating  discovered  the 
Birs  frowning  over  the  plain,  and  presenting  the 
appearance  of  a  circular  hill,  crowned  by  a  tower, 
with  a  high  ridge  extending  along  the  foot  of  it. 
Its  "being  entirely  concealed  from  view,  during  the 
first  part  of  the  ride,  prevented  him  accmiring  the 
gradual  idea,  in  general  so  prejudicial  to  effect,  and 
so  particularly  lamented  by  those  who  visit  the 
pyramids.  Just  as  he  was  within  the  proper  dis- 
tance, it  burst  at  once  upon  the  sight,  in  the  midst 
of  rolling  masses  of  thick  black  clouds,  partially 
obscured  by  that  kind  of  haze  whose  indistinctness 
is  one  great  cause  of  sublimity,  while  a  few  strong 
catches  of  stormy  light,  thrown  upon  the  desert  in 
the  background,  served  to  give  some  idea  of  the 
immense  extent  and  dreary  solitude  of  the  wastes 
in  which  this  venerable  ruin  stands. 

The  Birs  Kemroud  is  a  mound  of  an  oblong 
figure,  the  total  circumference  of  which  is  seven 
hundred  and  sixty-two  yards.  At  the  eastern  side 
it  is  cloven  by  a  deep  furrow,  and  is  not  more  than 
fifty  or  sixty  feet  high ;  but  at  the  western  it  rises 
in  a  conical  figure  to  the  elevation  of  one  hundred 
and  ninty-eight  feet ;  and  on  its  summit  is  a  solid 
pile  of  brick,  thirty-seven  feet  high  by  twenty-eight 
in  breadth,  diminishing  in  thickness  to  the  top, 
which  is  broken  and  irregular,  and  rent  by  a  large 
fissure  extending  through  a  third  of  its  height.  It 
is  perforated  by  small  square  holes  disposed  in 
rhomboids.  The  fine  burned  bricks  of  which  it  is 
built  have  inscriptions  on  them;  and  so  admirable 
is  the  cement,  which  appears  to  be  lime-mortar,  that, 


BABYLON. 


115 


though  the  layers  are  so  close  together  that  it  is 
difficult  to  discern  what  substance  is  between  them, 
it  is  nearly  impossible  to  extract  one  of  the  bricks 
whole.  The  other  parts  of  the  summit  of  this  hill 
are  occupied  by  immense  fragments  of  brickwork 
of  no  determinate  figure,  tumbled  together  and  con- 
verted into  solid  vitrified  masses,  as  if  they  had 
undergone  the  action  of  the  fiercest  fire,  or  been 
blown  up  Math  gunpowder,  the  layers  of  the  bricks 
being  perfectly  discernible — a  curious  fact,  and  one 
for  which  we  are  utterly  unable  to  account. 

The  whole  height  of  the  Birs  Nemroud  above  the 
plain  to  the  summit  of  the  brick  wall  is  two  hundred 
and  thirty-five  feet.  The  brick  wall  itself,  which 
stands  on  the  edge  of  the  summit,  and  was  undoubt- 
edly the  face  of  another  stage,  is  thirty-seven  feet 
high.  In  the  side  of  the  pile,  a  little  below  the 
summit,  is  very  clearly  to  be  seen  part  of  another 
brick  wall,  precisely  resembling  the  fragment  which 
crowns  the  summit,  but  which  still  encases  and  sup- 
ports its  part  of  the  mound.  This  is  clearly  indi- 
cative of  another  stage  of  greater  extent.  We  arc 
told  the  masonry  is  infinitely  superior  to  anything 
of  the  kind  ever  seen  ;  and  leaving  out  of  the  ques- 
tion any  conjecture  relative  to  the  original  destina- 
tion of  this  ruin,  the  impression  made  by  a  sight  of 
it  is,  that  it  was  a  solid  pile,  composed  in  the  in- 
terior of  unburned  brick,  and  perhaps  earth  or  rub- 
bish ;  that  it  was  constructed  in  receding  stages,  and 
faced  with  fine  burned  bricks,  having  inscriptions 
on  them,  laid  in  a  very  thin  layer  of  lime-cement ; 
and  that  it  was  reduced  by  violence  to  its  present 
ruinous  condition.  The  upper  stories  have  been 
forcibly  broken  down,  and  fire  lias  been  employed 


116  SEVEN    WONDERS   OF   THE   WOULD. 

as  an  instrument  of  destruction,  though  it  is  not  easy 
to  say  precisely  how  or  why.  The  facing  of  fine 
bricks  has  partly  been  removed,  and  partly  covered 
by  the  falling  down  of  the  mass  which  it  supported 
and  kept  together.  Mr.  Rich  says  also,  that  he 
could  speak  with  the  greater  confidence  of  the  dif- 
ferent stages  of  this  pile,  from  his  own  observations 
having  been  recently  confirmed  and  extended  by 
an  intelligent  traveler,  (Mr.  Buckingham,)  who  was 
of  opinion  that  the  traces  of  four  stages  are  clearly 
discernible.  Should  future  examinations  of  the  ruin 
confirm  this  opinion  to  be  correct,  we  cannot  omit 
to  notice  a  remarkable  result  arising  out  of  them. 
The  Tower  of  Belus  was  a  stadium  in  height;  there- 
fore, if  we  suppose  the  eight  towers  or  stages  which 
compose  the  Pyramid  of  Belus  to  have  been  of 
equal  height,  according  to  Major  Rennell's  idea,  we 
ought  to  find  traces  of  four  of  them  in  the  fragment 
which  remains,  whose  elevation  is  two  hundred  and 
thirty-five  feet;  and  this  is  precisely  the  number 
which  Mr.  Buckingham  believes  he  has  discovered. 

The  Birs  Nemroud  is  apparently  the  Tower  of 
Belus  of  Benjamin  of  Tudela,  who  says  it  was  de- 
stroyed by  fire  from  heaven — a  curious  remark,  as 
it  proves  he  must  have  observed  the  vitrified  masses 
on  the  summit. 

The  Birs  Nemroud  is  in  all  likelihood  at  present 
pretty  nearly  in  the  state  in  which  Alexander  saw 
it;  if  we  give  any  credit  to  the  report  that  ten 
thousand  men  could  only  remove  the  rubbish,  pre- 
paratory to  repairing  it,  in  two  months.  If,  indeed, 
it  required  one-half  of  that  number  to  disencumber 
it,  the  state  of  dilapidation  must  have  been  com- 
plete.   The  immense  masses  of  vitrified  brick  which 


BABYLON.  117 

are  seen  on  the  top  of  the  mount  appear  to  have 
marked  its  summit  since  the  time  of  its  destruction. 
The  rubbish  about  its  base  was  probably  in  much 
greater  quantities,  the  weather  having  dissipated 
much  of  it  in  the  course  of  so  many  revolving  ages ; 
and,  possibly,  portions  of  the  exterior  facing  of  tine 
brick  may  have  disappeared  at  different  periods. 

It  is  almost  needless  to  observe  that  the  whole 
of  this  mound  is  itself  a  ruin,  channeled  by  the 
weather,  and  strewed  with  the  usual  fragments,  and 
with  pieces  of  black  stone,  sandstone,  and  marble. 
In  the  eastern  part,  layers  of  unburned  brick  are 
plainly  to  be  seen,  but  no  reeds  were  discernible  in 
anv  part:  possibly  the  absence  of  them  here,  when 
they  are  so  generally  seen  under  similar  circum- 
stances, may  be  an  argument  of  the  superior  an- 
tiquity of  the  ruin.  In  the  north  side  may  be  seen 
traces  of  building  exactly  similar  to  the  brick  pile. 
At  the  foot  of  the  mound  a  step  may  be  traced, 
scarcely  elevated  above  the  plain,  exceeding  in  ex- 
tent by  several  feet  each  way  the  true  or  measured 
base ;  and  there  is  a  quadrangular  inclosure  round 
the  whole,  as  at  the  Mujelibe,  but  much  more  per- 
fect and  of  greater  dimensions.  At  a  trifling;  distance 
from  the  Birs,  and  parallel  with  its  eastern  face,  is  a 
mound  not  inferior  to  that  of  the  Kasr  in  elevation, 
but  much  longer  than  it  is  broad.  On  the  top  of  it 
are  two  Koubbes,  or  oratories,  one  called  Makam 
Ibrahim  Khalil,  and  said  to  be  the  place  where 
Abraham  was  thrown  into  the  fire  by  order  of 
Nemroud,  who  surveyed  the  scene  from  the  Birs : 
the  other,  which  is  in  ruins,  is  called  Makam  Saheb 
Zeman ;  but  to  what  part  of  Mehdy's  life  it  relates, 
I  am  ignorant.     In  the  oratories  I  searched  in  vain 


118  SEVEN    WONDERS    OF  THE   WORLD. 

for  the  inscriptions  mentioned  by  Niebuhr;  near 
that  of  Ibrahim  Klialil  is  a  small  excavation  into 
the  mound,  which  merits  no  attention ;  but  the 
mound  itself  is  curious,  from  its  position,  and  cor- 
respondence with  others,  as  I  shall  in  the  sequel 
have  occasion  to  remark. 

Round  the  Birs  are  traces  of  ruins  to  a  consider- 
able extent.  To  the  north  is  the  canal  which  sup- 
plies Mesjid  Ali  with  water,  which  was  dug  at  the 
expense  of  Kuwaub  Shujah-ed-Doulah,  and  called 
after  his  country  Hindia.  We  were  informed  that 
from  the  summit  of  the  Birs,  in  a  clear  morning, 
the  gilt  dome  of  Mesjid  Ali  might  be  seen. 

To  this  account  of  the  ruins,  which  are  supposed 
to  have  stood  in  the  enceinte  of  the  city  itself,  it  may 
be  useful  to  subjoin  a  notice  of  some  remarkable 
places  in  the  vicinity  of  Hillah,  which  bear  some 
relation  to  the  ruins  of  Babylon.  Nebbi  Eyoub,  or 
the  tomb  of  the  prophet  Job,  is  a  Koubbe,  or  ora- 
tory, situated  near  the  Euphrates,  three  leagues  to 
the  southward  of  Hillah;  and  just  below  it  is  a 
large  canal  called  Jazeria,  said  to  be  of  great  an- 
tiquity ;  close  to  "which  are  two  large  mounds  or 
masses  of  ruins,  named  El  Mokhatat  and  El  Adouar. 
Four  leagues  below  Hillah,  on  the  same  side  of  the 
Euphrates,  but  not  on  the  bank,  is  a  village  called 
Jerbouiya,  near  which  is  a  considerable  collection 
of  ruins  similar  to  those  of  Babylon,  and  called  by 
the  natives  Boursa,  probably  the  Borosippa  of 
Strabo,  and  Barsita  of  Ptolemy.  The  governor  of 
Hillah  informed  me  of  a  mound  as  large  as  the 
Mujelibe,  situated  thirty-five  hours  to  the  southward 
of  Hillah;  and  that  a  few  years  ago,  a  cap  or  diadem 
of  pure  gold,  and  some  other  articles  of  the  same 


BABYLON. 


119 


metal,  were  found  there,  which  the  Khezail  Arabs 
refused  to  give  up  to  the  pasha.  In  the  western 
desert,  bearing  north-west  from  the  top  of  the  Muje- 
libe,  is  a  large  mound  called  Towereij.  In  the 
same  desert,  two  leagues  to  the-  west  of  Hillah,  is 
the  village  of  Tahinasia,  built  by  Shah  Tahmas, 
where,  it  is  said,  are  some  trifling  mounds;  this 
village  must  occupy  part  of  the  site  of  Babylon. 
From  the  top  of  the  Mujelibe,  in  a  southerly  direc- 
tion, at  a  great  distance,  two  large  mounds  are 
visible,  with  whose  names  I  am  unacquainted.  Five 
or  six  miles  to  the  cast  of  Hillah  is  Al  Hheimar, 
which  is  a  curious  ruin,  as  bearing,  on  a  smaller 
scale,  some  resemblance  to  the  Birs  Nemroud. 
The  base  is  a  heap  of  rubbish,  on  the  top  of  which  is 
a  mass  of  red  brickwork,  between  each  layer  of 
which  is  a  curious  white  substance,  which  pulverizes 
on  the  least  touch. 

Although  it  is  very  difficult  to  make  the  descrip- 
tions given  by  the  ancient  historians  agree  with  the 
ruins  in  their  present  state,  the  majority  of  modern 
travelers  and  investigators  are  united  in  determin- 
ing that  the  Birs  Nemroud  is  the  ruin  of  the  Temple 
of  Belus.  Sir  P.  K.  Porter  was  certain  that  four 
of  the  original  eight  stages  of  the  tower  could  be 
traced  in  the  existing  ruins  ;  and  with  regard  to  the 
intense  vitrifying  heat  to  which  the  summit  has 
most  evidently  been  subjected,  he  has  no  doubt  that 
the  fire  acted  from  above,  and  was  probably  light- 
ning. No  very  close  examination  of  the  ruins,  no 
excavation  at  all  has  been  made  since  the  visits  of 
Kich  and  Porter,  and  consequently  no  new  light 
has  been  thrown  on  the  subject  of  the  remains  of 
Babylon  ;  but  one  startling  fact  is  exhibited  by  the 

8 


120  SEVEN   WONDEKS    OF   THE   WORLD. 

concurrent  testimony  of  every  visitor  to  the  coun- 
tries round  the  district  of  the  ruins,  that  all  the 
bricks  of  Babylon,  from  Bagdad  to  the  Birs  Nem- 
roud,  bear  the  stamp  of  Nebuchadnezzar,  the  son 
of  Nabopolassar ;  thus  fully  confirming  the  expres- 
sion of  the  Bible, — "  Is  not  this  great  Babylon  that 
I  have  built?"  Whoever,  therefore,  might  have 
been  the  founders  of  the  earlier  city,  this  proof 
must  be  received  as  satisfactory,  that  the  city 
lauded  by  the  ancients,  and  of  whose  splendor 
tradition  has  furnished  us  with  such  wondrous  de- 
tails, was  the  "house  of  the  kingdom!  the  might 
of  the  power!  the  glory  of  the  majesty  of  Nebu- 
chadnezzar." 

Many  writers,  whose  opinions  are  entitled  to 
notice,  claim  for  three  different  masses  the  distinc- 
tion of  being  a  remain  of  the  Tower  of  Babel, 
namely,  for  NimrocCs  Tower,  at  Akker-koof,  for 
the  Mujelibe,  and  for  the  Birs  Nemrottd.  Some 
travelers,  having  their  imagination,  perhaps,  first 
excited  by  the  name  Tel  Nimroud  attached  to  it, 
have  believed  the  remains  at  Akker-koof  to  be  the 
Tower  of  Babel ;  but  the  people  of  the  country 
always  indicate  the  site  of  Babel  to  be  near  to 
Hillah,  on  the  Euphrates.  With  regard  to  the 
Mujelibe,  we  have  shown  that  there  are  some  traces 
of  evidence  that  here  were  those  masterly  works  of 
the  power  and  genius  of  Nebuchadnezzar, — the 
hanging-gardens, — and  consequently  we  must  look 
elsewhere  for  the  Tower  of  Confusion. 

The  advocates  for  both  the  sites  mentioned  do  not 
notice  the  Birs  Nemroud ;  therefore  we  must  conclude 
that  remarkable  pile  was  not  observed  by  them ; 
for  every  traveler  who  has  seen  it  feels  at  once,  that 


BABYLON.  121 

of  all  the  masses  of  ruin  there  is  not  one  which  so 
nearly  corresponds  with  all  preconceived  notions  of 
the  Tower  of  Babel,  a  portion  of  which  structure  in 
aftertiraes  formed  the  nucleus  of  the  temple  devoted 
to  Jupiter  Belus.  Converted  as  the  entire  mass  is 
into  solid  vitrified  fragments,  by  the  aid  of  some  over- 
powering conflagration,  it  is  a  most  remarkable  cir- 
cumstance in  connection  with  the  tradition,  that  the 
Tower  of  Babel  was  rent  and  overthrown  by  fire 
from  heaven.  Porter  expresses  his  opinion  that  the 
works  of  the  Babylonish  king  concealed  for  awhile 
the  marks  of  the  original  devastation ;  and  that  now 
the  destructive  hand  of  time  and  of  man  have  re- 
duced it  to  the  like  condition  in  which  it  appeared 
after  the  Confusion.  The  spectator  thus  has  forcibly 
called  to  his  recollection  the  emphatic  prophecy  of 
Jeremiah :  "  I  will  stretch  out  mine  hand  upon  thee, 
and  roll  thee  down  upon  the  rocks,  and  will  make 
thee  a  burned  mountain." 

In  approaching  the  subject  of  the  final  overthrow 
of  this  great  city  in  the  reign  of  its  founder's  descend- 
ant, as  foretold  by  the  prophets,  how  appropriately 
may  be  introduced  Dean  Millman's  Soliloquy  of  the 
Destroying  Angel,  commissioned  by  the  Most  High 
to  pour  on  the  devoted  city  the  vials  of  his  wrath ! — 

Within  the  cloud-pavilion  of  my  rest, 

Amid  the  thrones  and  princedoms,  that  await 

Their  hour  of  ministration  to  the  Lord, 

I  heard  the  summons,  and  I  stood  with  wings 

Outspread  for  flight  before  the  eternal  throne. 

And,  from  the  unapproached  depth  of  light 

Wherein  the  Almighty  Father  of  the  worlds 

Dwells,  from  seraphic  sight  by  glory  veil'd, 

Came  forth  the  soundless  mandate,  which  I  felt 

Within,  and  sprung  upon  my  obedient  plumes. 


122    SEVEN  WONDERS  OF  THE  WORLD. 

But  as  I  sail'd  my  long  and  trackless  voyage 
Down  the  deep  bosom  of  unbounded  space, 
The  manifest  bearer  of  Almighty  wrath, 
I  saw  the  angel  of  each  separate  star 
Folding  his  wings  in  terror  o'er  his  orb 
Of  golden  fire ;  and  shuddering  till  I  pass'd 
To  pour  elsewhere  Jehovah's  cup  of  vengeance. 

And  now  I  stand  upon  thi3  world  of  man, 
My  wonted  resting-place — But  thou,  0  earth ! 
Thou  only,  dost  endure  my  fatal  presence 
Undaunted.     As  of  old,  I  hover  o'er 
This  haughty  city  of  Chaldean  Bel, 
That  not  the  less  pours  forth  her  festal  pomp 
To  do  unholy  worship  to  her  gods, 
That  are  not  gods,  but  works  of  mortal  hands. 

Behold !  the  sun  has  burst  the  eastern  gates, 
And  all  his  splendor  floods  the  tower'd  walls, 
Upon  whose  wide  immeasurable  circuit 
The  harness'd  chariots  crowd  in  long  array. 
Down  every  stately  line  of  pillar'd  street, 
To  each  of  the  hundred  brazen  gates,  young  men 
And  flower-crown'd  maidens  lead  the  mazy  dance. 
Here  the  vast  palace,  whence  yon  airy  gardens 
Spread  round,  and  to  the  morning  airs  hang  forth 
Their  golden  fruits  and  dewy  opening  flowers ; 
While  still  the  low  mists  creep,  in  lazy  folds, 
O'er  the  house-tops  beneath.     In  every  court, 
Through  every  portal,  throng,  in  servile  haste, 
Captains  and  nobles.    There,  before  the  Temple, 
On  the  far  side  of  wide  Euphrates'  stream, 
The  priests  of  Bel  their  impious  rites  prepare : 
And  cymbal  clang,  and  glittering  dulcimer, 
With  shrill  melodious  salutation,  hail 
The  welcome  morn,  awakening  all  the  city 
To  the  last  dawn  that  e'er  shall  gladden  her. 

Babylon !  Babylon !  that  wak'st  in  pride 
And  glory,  but  shalt  sleep  in  shapeless  ruin, 
Thus,  with  my  broad  and  overshadowing  wings, 
I  do  embrace  thee  for  mine  own ;  forbidding, 
Even  at  this  instant,  yon  bright  orient  sun 
To  shed  his  splendors  on  thy  lofty  streets. 
0,  desolation's  sacred  place,  as  now 


UABYL0N.  123 

Thou'rt  darken'd,  shall  the  darkness  of  the  dead 
Enwarp  thee  in  its  everlasting  shade ! 
Babylon !  Babylon !  upon  the  wreck 
Of  that  most  impious  tower  your  fathers  rear'd 
To  scale  the  crystal  battlements  of  heaven, 
I  set  my  foot,  here  take  my  gloomy  rest 
Even  till  that  hour  be  come,  that  comes  full  soon. 

Having  thus  exhibited  the  accounts  that  are 
handed  down  to  us  of  this  wondrous  city  by  the 
inspired  writers  of  the  Old  Testament,  and  by  the 
ancient  writers,  and  the  present  aspect  of  the  site, 
Ave  shall  add  a  few  general  remarks  on  the  subject 
which  appear  to  us  of  most  importance,  and  then 
proceed  to  notice  the  accomplishment  of  prophecy 
in  the  destruction  of  man's  labor  and  pride,  as  well 
as  the  entire  desolation  of  the  land. 

Of  all  the  ancient  authors,  Herodotus  and  Dio- 
dorus  are  the  most  minute :  much  weight  must  be 
certainly  placed  on  the  accounts  of  the  former,  who 
was  an  eye-witness  of  what  he  relates ;  what  he  says 
he  saw  we  may  rely  on,  and  credit  on  our  own  judg- 
ment what  he  relates  on  the  authority  of  others. 

Of  the  extent  of  the  walls  and  their  height  the 
ancient  authors  do  not  much  differ.  The  greatest 
variation,  and  that  worthy  of  particular  notice,  is  the 
dimensions  of  the  Tower  of  Belus,  which  Herodotus 
says  had  eight  towers,  one  above  the  other,  and  that 
the  lowest  was  a  stadium  (about  the  eighth  of  a  mile) 
in  height  and  breadth ;  but  his  real  meaning  is  sup- 
posed to  be  length  and  breadth,  that  is,  the  base 
was  a  square  of  a  stadium ;  and  this  agrees  with 
the  account  of  Strabo.  It  may  be  said  that  the 
situation  of  the  Birs  was  so  far  distant  from  the 
other  portions  of  ruins ;  but  it  appears  surprising, 


124:         SEVEN   WONDERS   OF   THE   WORLD. 

if  the  Birs  was  a  building  distinct  from  the  Tower 
of  Belus,  how  so  stupendous  a  pile,  in  its  perfect 
state,  should  never  have  attracted  the  attention  of 
those  who  have  enumerated  the  wonders  of  Bab- 
ylon. 

The  interest  attached  to  the  Tower  of  Belus  is  the 
probability  of  its  identity  with  the  tower  which  the 
descendants  of  Noah  constructed  in  the  Plain  of 
Shinar,  the  completion  of  which  was  prevented  in 
so  memorable  a  manner. 

Some  commentators  differ  from  the  sense  in  which 
Genesis  xi,  4  is  commonly  understood,  and  as  the 
translators  of  our  Bible  give  it, — "  a  tower,  whose 
top  may  reach  unto  heaven ;"  the  phrase  is  literally, 
— "  and  its  top  in  the  skies ;" — a  metaphor  common 
in  all  languages  and  nations  for  an  elevated  summit. 
This  is  certainly  a  more  rational  interpretation  than 
supposing  a  people  in  their  senses,  even  at  that  early 
period,  would  attempt  to  scale  heaven  by  means  of 
a  building  of  their  own  construction. 

The  intention  of  raising  this  structure  might  have 
been  displeasing  to  the  Almighty  on  many  other 
accounts ;  such,  for  instance,  as  the  paying  divine 
honors  to  other  beings.  It  is  probable  enough  that 
some  attempt  to  frustrate  the  appointed  dispersion 
of  mankind  was  involved  in  the  undertaking ;  and  it 
does  not  appear  that  the  confusion  of  tongues  was 
so  much  a  punishment  for  this  attempt,  as  a  proper 
and  obvious  measure  for  giving  effect  to  the  intend- 
ed dispersion  and  distribution  of  the  human  race. 
Leaving  this  matter,  in  which  we  have  only  conjec- 
tures and  doubtful  interpretations  to  guide  us,  we 
refer  our  readers  to  the  varied  accounts  we  have 
collected  from  ancient  writers  and  modern  travelers, 


BABYLON.  125 

to  form  their  own  conclusions  for  the  site  of  the 
Tower  of  Belus,  and  of  that  "  whose  top  is  in  the 
skies." 

'From  what  remains,  and  from  the  most  favorable 
accounts  handed  down  to  us,  there  is  every  reason 
to  believe,  that  the  public  edifices  which  adorned 
Babylon  were  more  remarkable  for  vastness  of  di- 
mensions than  elegance  of  design;  the  sculptures 
that  have  been  found  speak  a  barbarous,  people; 
and  we  may  consider  it  would  be  difficult  to  make 
anything  of  such  unpropitious  materials  as  brick 
and  bitumen. 

The  sacred  volume  of  our  faith  contains  in  several 
places  notices  of  Babylon,  and  in  the  prophetical 
books  appear  so  many  denunciations  of  the  crimes 
and  vices  of  the  people  and  their  monarch,  that  a 
reference  to  the  accomplishment  of  the  doom  of  both 
city  and  kingdom  especially  claims  our  notice.  The 
prophet  Isaiah  tells  us, — "Babylon,  the  glory  of 
kingdoms,  the  beauty  of  the  Chaldees'  excellency, 
shall  be  as  when  God  overthrew  Sodom  and  Gomor- 
rah. It  shall  never  be  inhabited,  neither  shall  it  be 
dwelt  in  from  generation  to  generation ;  neither 
shall  the  Arabian  pitch  tent  there ;  neither  shall  the 
shepherds  make  their  fold  there.  But  the  wild 
beasts  of  the  desert  shall  be  there,  and  their  houses 
shall  be  full  of  doleful  creatures." 

The  general  notice  we  have  given  of  the  present 
condition  of  the  site,  shows  that  the  heaps  cover  the 
remains  of  the  beauty  of  the  "  Chaldees'  excellency ;" 
for  many  centuries  it  has  been  forsaken  by  man,  and 
left  entirely  to  the  "  doleful  creatures ; "  the  hyena 
and  the  jackal,  serpents  and  scorpions,  with  other 
venomous  creatures,  are   now  its  only  occupants. 


126  SEVEN   WONDERS   OF  THE  WORLD. 

The  time  when  it  became  totally  deserted  has  not 
been  clearly  ascertained.  Strabo,  who  wrote  about 
B.  C.  50,  says  that  in  his  time  a  great  part  of  it  was 
a  mere  desert ;  that  the  Persian  had  partly  demol- 
ished it,  and  the  neglect  of  its  Macedonian  masters 
had  nearly  completed  its  destruction  ;  and  Pliny, 
who  wrote  about  a  century  after,  describes  its  site 
as  a  desert,  and  the  city  as  "  dead ;"  and  Pausanias, 
who  lived  in  the  following  century,  says,  "  Of  Baby- 
lon, a  greater  city  than  which  the  sun  did  not  form- 
erly behold,  all  that  now  remains  is  the  Temple  of 
Belus  and  the  walls  of  the  city."  Jerome,  who  re- 
sided in  the  East  in  the  fourth  century  of  our  era,  in- 
forms us  that  Babylon  was  then  quite  in  ruins,  and  the 
walls  served  only  for  a  park  for  the  king's  hunting. 
One  would  imagine  that  such  a  city  as  Babylon 
is  described  to  have  been,  was  in  no  danger  of  being 
thus  totally  abandoned  or  coming  to  naught.  Such 
a  city  as  this  might  surely,  with  less  vanity  than  any 
other,  boast  "  she  should  continue  forever,"  if  any- 
thing human  or  of  human  production  could  endure 
everlastingly.  But  the  fiat  had  gone  forth  ;  for  the 
prophet  Jeremiah,  in  the  first  year  of  the  reign  of 
Nebuchadnezzar,  by  command  of  the  Most  High, 
declares,  "  It  shall  come  to  pass  when  seventy  years 
are  accomplished,  that  I  will  punish  the  king  of 
Babylon  and  that  nation,  saith  the  Lord."  At  the 
time  appointed,  the  Medes  and  Persians  under  Cyrus, 
who  appears  to  have  been  an  instrument  of  Provi- 
dence raised  up  for  high  purposes,  struck  the  first 
great  blow  to  the  prosperity  of  the  city.  The  height 
and  strength  of  its  walls  for  many  months  baffled 
the  invader ;  but  having  understood  that  at  a  cer- 
tain day,  then  near  approaching,  a  great  annual  fes- 


BABYLON.  127 

tival  was  to  be  held,  when  it  was  customary  for  the 
Babylonians  to  spend  the  night  in  reveling  and  fes- 
tivity, he  thought  it  a  fit  opportunity  for  executing  a 
scheme  of  which  the  besieged  had  not  the  smallest 
apprehension.  The  Babylonians  had  looked  upon 
the  river  as  the  greatest  protection,  and  Cyrus  saw 
that,  by  turning  the  course  of  the  stream,  he  might 
make  dry  the  bed  of  the  river,  and  the  fall  of  the 
city  was  then  certain  :  accordingly,  on  the  night  of 
the  feast,  he  sent  a  party  of  his  men  to  the  canal, 
which  led  to  the  great  lake  made  by  Nebuchadnez- 
zar to  receive  the  waters  of  the  Euphrates,  while  he 
was  facing  the  banks  of  the  river  with  walls ;  to  this 
party  he  gave  directions,  as  soon  as  it  was  dark  to 
cut  down  the  great  dam  which  kept  the  waters  of 
the  river  in  their  place,  and  separated  them  from 
the  canal ;  other  parties  made  openings  in  the  trench- 
es round  the  city,  that  had  been  made  during  the 
two  years'  siege ;  and  thus  at  midnight,  the  bed  of 
the  river  being  made  dry,  the  army  of  Cyrus  found 
easy  entrance — the  guards,  no  doubt  partaking  of 
the  disorder  and  negligence  of  the  night,  were  sur- 
prised and  killed.  While  all  this  was  going  on 
without,  a  remarkable  scene  was  transpiring  within 
the  palace, — Daniel  was  deciphering  the  writing  on 
the  wall,  and  Cyrus  and  his  soldiery  entered  the 
banqueting-hall,  where,  encountering  Belshazzar,  he 
slew  him  with  all  his  followers. 

Here  we  see  the  prophecy  and  its  literal  fulfill- 
ment, by  Isaiah:  we  are  told,  that  "the  Lord  saith 
of  Cyrus,  he  is  my  shepherd,  and  shall  perform  all 
my  pleasure.'" 

And  by  Jeremiah:  "A  drought  is  upon  her 
waters,  and  they  shall  be  dried  up.     In  their  heat  I 


128  SEVEN    W0NDEKS   OK   THE   WOELD. 

will  make  them  drunken,  and  they  shall  sleep  a  per- 
petual sleep,  and  not  awake."  The  facts  of  the 
capture  of  the  city  are  related  by  those  truthful  his- 
torians, Herodotus  and  Xenophon ;  the  prophecies 
were  delivered  by  Isaiah,  who  lived  two  hundred 
and  fifty  years  before  Herodotus,  and  three  hundred 
and  fifty  before  Xenophon ;  and  by  Jeremiah,  about 
one  hundred  years  after  Isaiah. 

After  its  capture  by  Cyrus,  Babylon,  formerly  the 
seat  of  empire,  was  reduced  to  the  rank  of  a  provin- 
cial city ;  and  the  inhabitants,  who  had  grown  weal- 
thy and  proud  during  their  empire  over  the  East, 
could  ill  brook  this  change  of  fortune,  and  there- 
fore made  an  effort  to  regain  their  former  power. 
Accordingly,  in  the  reign  of  Darius  Hystaspes, 
twelve  years  subsequent  to  the  death  of  Cyrus,  after 
some  years  of  preparation,  they  openly  revolted. 
For  twenty  months  they  sustained  the  siege  and  all 
the  efforts  of  Darius ;  and  when  the  conqueror  was 
again  in  possession  of  the  city  he  threw  down  the 
walls.  In  the  succeeding  reign  another  blow  was 
struck  toward  the  downfall  of  Babylon.  Xerxes, 
after  his  return  from  his  unfortunate  expedition  into 
Greece,  partly  to  indemnify  himself  for  his  losses, 
and  partly  out  of  zeal  for  the  Magian  religion,  which 
held  every  kind  of  image-worship  in  abhorrence, 
destroyed  the  temples,  and  plundered  them  of  their 
vast  treasures,  which  appear  to  have  been  hitherto 
spared,  thereby  accomplishing  the  other  prophecies 
of  Isaiah  and  Jeremiah :  "  Babylon  is  fallen,  and  all 
the  graven  images  of  her  gods  he  hath  broken  into 
the  ground.  Wherefore  behold  the  days  come, 
saith  the  Lord,  that  I  will  do  judgment  upon  her 
graven  images." 


BABYLON.  12'J 

From  this  period,  despoiled  of  her  wealth,  strength, 
and  various  resources,  Babylon  was  in  no  condition 
for  revolt ;  and  with  the  decay  of  her  power  and  lo- 
cal advantages  the  population  declined.  We  conse- 
quently hear  no  more  of  Babylon  until  the  coming 
of  Alexander,  one  hundred  and  fifty  years  after, 
wdien  the  terror  of  his  name,  or  the  weakness  of  the 
place,  wras  such,  that  not  the  slightest  effort  of  re- 
sistance was  made.  Alexander,  on  his  return  from 
his  Indian  expedition,  finding  Babylon  more  suitable 
in  its  situation  for  the  capital  of  his  empire  than  any 
other  place  in  the  East,  resolved  to  fix  his  residence 
there,  and  to  restore  it  to  its  former  strength  and 
magnificence.  For  this  purpose,  he  set  ten  thousand 
men  at  work  to  rebuild  the  Temple  of  Belus,  and  a 
like  number  to  bring  back  the  river  into  the  old 
channel,  from  which  it  had  been  diverted  by  Darius. 
But  the  behest  of  the  Most  High  had  determined 
"  Babylon  should  be  a  desolation,"  and  by  the  death 
of  Alexander  put  an  end  to  this  and  his  other  mighty 
projects. 

Babylon  never  revived,  but  continued  through 
each  succeeding  age  to  make  further  advances  in 
its  progress  to  depopulation  and  decay,  until,  as  we 
learn  from  Diodorus  Siculus,  about  130  B.  C,  the 
Parthians,  who  were  then  its  masters,  burned  the 
forum,  the  temples,  and  several  parts  of  the  city, 
and  sold  many  of  the  inhabitants  to  slavery. 

For  some  hundreds  of  years,  through  dearth  of 
authors  and  ages  of  ignorance,  we  hear  no  more  of 
Babylon.  The  first  mention  made  by  later  authors 
is  by  Benjamin  of  Tudela,  a  Jew,  who  lived  in  the 
twelfth  century,  and  he  asserts  that  Babylon  was  laid 
waste,  but  that  some  ruins  are  still  to  be  seen  of 


130  SEVEN   WONDERS    OF   THE   WORLD. 

Nebuchadnezzar's  palace ;  and  men  feared  to  enter 
there  on  account  of  the  serpents  and  scorpions  that 
were  in  the  midst  of  it.  Rauwolf,  a  German  trav- 
eler, in  1574,  says :  "  The  country  is  so  dry  and  bar- 
ren that  it  cannot  be  tilled,  and  so  bare,  that  I  could 
never  have  believed  that  this  powerful  city,  once 
the  most  stately  and  renowned  in  all  the  world, 
and  situate  in  the  pleasant  and  fruitful  country  of 
Shinar,  could  ever  have  stood  there,  if  it  had  not 
been  known  by  its  situation,  and  many  antiquities 
of  great  beauty  which  are  still  lying  about  in  great 
desolations. 

"  By  the  old  bridge  over  the  Euphrates  there  are 
yet  remaining  portions  of  arches  built  of  burnt  brick, 
so  strong  that  it  is  admirable.  Just  before  the  vil- 
lage of  Elugo  (Hillah)  is  the  hill  whereon  the  castle 
stood,  the  ruins  of  the  fortifications  being  yet 
visible.  Behind  it  did  stand  the  Tower  of  Babel. 
The  ruin  is  so  low  and  full  of  venomous  creatures, 
which  lodge  in  the  holes  made  by  them  in  the  rub- 
bish, that  no  one  durst  approach  nearer  than  within 
half  a  league  of  it,  except  during  two  months  in  the 
winter,  when  they  do  not  stir  out  of  their  holes." 

And  when  at  evening  o'er  the  swampy  plain 
The  bittern's  boom  came  far, 
Distant  in  darkness  seen, 
Above  the  horizon's  lingering  light 
Rose  the  near  ruins  of  old  Babylon. 

Once  from  her  lofty  walls  the  charioteer 
Look'd  down  on  swarming  myriads ;  once  she  flung 
Her  arches  o'er  Euphrates'  conquer'd  tide, 
And  through  her  brazen  portals  when  she  pour'd 
Her  armies  forth,  the  distant  nations  look'd 
As  men  who  watch  the  thunder-cloud  in  fear 


BABYLON.  131 

Lest  it  should  burst  above  them.     She  was  fallen, 

The  queen  of  cities,  Babylon,  was  fallen, 
Low  lay  her  bulwark  ;  the  black  scorpion  bask'd 
In  the  palace  courts ;  within  the  sanctuary 
The  she-wolf  hid  her  whelps. 
Is  yonder  huge  and  shapeless  heap,  what  once 
Hath  been  the  aerial  gardens,  height  on  height 
Rising  like  Media's  mountains  crown'd  with  wood, 
Work  of  imperial  dotage  ?  where  the  fane 
Of  Belus  ?  where  the  golden  image  now, 
Which  at  the  sound  of  dulcimer  and  lute, 
Cornet  and  sackbut,  harp  and  psaltery, 
The  Assyrian  slaves  adored  ? 
A  labyrinth  of  ruins,  Babylon, 
Spreads  o'er  the  blasted  plain : 
The  wandering  Arab  never  sets  his  tent 
Within  her  walls ;  the  shepherd  eyes  afar 
Her  evil  towers,  and  devious  drives  his  flock. 
Alone  unchanged,  a  free  and  bridgeless  tide, 
Euphrates  rolls  along, 
Eternal  Nature's  work. 

The  remarks  of  other  travelers  only  corroborate 
the  statements  we  have  given,  until  the  careful 
examinations  made  in  our  own  time  by  Rich  and 
Porter,  the  results  of  which  we  have  already  stated. 
But  by  all  the  accounts  we  see  how  punctually  time 
hath  fulfilled  the  predictions  of  the  prophets  concern- 
ing Babylon.  When  it  was  converted  into  a  chase 
for  wild  beasts  to  feed  and  breed  there,  then  were 
exactly  accomplished  the  words  of  the  prophet,  that 
"  the  wild  beasts  of  the  desert,  with  the  wild  beasts 
of  the  islands,  shall  dwell  there,  and  cry  in  their 
desolate  houses."  One  part  of  the  country  av;is 
overflowed  by  the  river  being  turned  out  of  its 
course,  and  never  restored  again  to  its  former  chan- 
nel, and  thence  became  boggy  and  marshy,  so  that 
it  might  literally  be  said  to  be — "  A  possession  for 


132  SEVEN    WONDERS   OF  THE   WOULD. 

the  bittern  and  pools  of  water."  Another  part  is 
described  as  dry  and  naked,  and  barren  of  every- 
thing ;  so  thereby  was  also  fulfilled  another  prophecy, 
which  had  seemed  in  some  measure  to  contradict 
the  former:  "Their  cities  are  a  desolation,  a  dry 
land  and  a  wilderness,  a  land  wherein  no  man 
dwelleth." 

The  Arab  pitches  his  tent  and  feeds  his  flocks 
where  pasture  can  be  found ;  but  at  Babylon  there 
is  no  pasture,  the  whole  site  is  a  perfect  desolation, 
on  which  nothing  useful  to  man,  or  to  the  beasts 
for  which  he  cares,  can  be  discovered.  The  prophet 
had  said,  "Neither  shall  the  Arabian  pitch  tent 
there ;  neither  shall  the  shepherds  make  their  fold 
there."  The  soil,  for  miles  around,  consists  of  the 
grit  and  clay  formed  by  the  decomposition  of  the 
buildings  by  which  the  site  was  once  covered,  and 
contains  no  principle  friendly  to  vegetation.  Hence 
the  site  of  Babylon  and  Nineveh,  and  of  all  the  other 
towns  of  this  region,  both  in  their  mounds  and  level 
grounds,  are  marked — even  in  a  region  generally 
desolate — by  an  appearance  of  utter  barrenness  and 
blast,  as  if  from  the  curse  of  God ;  which  gives  a 
most  intense  and  mournful  corroboration  to  the 
denunciations  of  Scripture,  and  the  expression  of 
which,  no  less  true  than  sublime,  that  "the  Lord 
of  hosts  hath  swept  it  with  the  besom  of  destruc 
tion."  How  wonderful  are  the  predictions  com- 
pared with  the  event,  and  what  a  convincing  proof 
is  here  of  the  divinity  of  the  Holy  Scriptures. 
Whoever  of  posterity  reads  and  compares  the  proph- 
ecy and  the  issue  together,  must  they  not  be  ever 
ready  to  acknowledge,  "  Verily  there  is  a  God  that 
judgeth  the  earth!" 


BABYLON.  133 

We  cannot  conclude  the  subject  without  especial 
notice  of  the  triumphant  ode  on  the  Fall  of  Babylon, 
in  the  fourteenth  chapter  of  Isaiah.  At  the  com- 
mencement, a  chorus  of  Jews  expresses  surprise  at 
the  sudden  downfall  of  Babylon ;  it  then  represents 
the  infernal  regions  as  moved,  and  the  ghosts  of  de- 
ceased tyrants  as  rising  to  meet  the  king  of  Baby- 
lon, and  congratulate  his  coming  among  them : 
and  the  poem  closes  by  solemnly  declaring  that 
Jehovah,  when  he  ordains  a  purpose,  none  can  dis- 
annul it. 

Undoubtedly  this  is  a  poem  singularly  beautiful 
in  its  imagery,  and  sublime  in  its  conceptions;  it 
moves  in  lengthened  measure  like  a  song  of  lamen- 
tation for  the  dead ;  and  is  full  of  lofty  scorn  and 
contumely  from  beginning  to  the  end.  It  may 
safely  be  affirmed  that  there  is  no  poem  of  its  kind 
in  any  language,  in  which  the  subject  is  so  well  laid 
out  and  so  happily  conducted, — with  such  richness 
of  invention, — with  such  variety  of  images,  persons, 
and  distinct  actions, — with  such  rapidity  and  ease 
of  transition  in  so  small  a  compass,  as  in  this  ode  of 
Isaiah.  For  the  beauty  of  disposition,  strength  of 
coloring,  greatness  of  sentiment,  brevity,  per- 
spicuity, and  force  of  expression,  it  stands  among 
all  the  monuments  of  antiquity  unrivaled. 

We  have  endeavored  to  compress  into  the  pre- 
ceding pages  all  that  is  at  present  known  of  the 
ruins  of  the  proud  city  of  Babylon,  omitting  the 
measurements  and  details  of  the  surveys,  which 
would  hardly  be  intelligible  without  the  necessary 
ground-plans.  The  light  that  has  been  thrown  upon 
the  history  of  Nineveh  by  Mr.  Layard,  the  wonder- 
ful products  of  Eastern  art,  now  disentombed  after 


134:  SEVEN   WONDERS    OF   THE   WORLD. 

an  interment  of  two  thousand  five  hundred  years, 
exhibiting  to  our  view  specimens  of  gigantic  sculp- 
ture, chiseled  with  all  the  refinement  of  Grecian 
art,  cannot  fail  to  excite  our  admiration  with  feel- 
ings of  surprise  and  wonderment. 

The  surprise  is  to  learn,  that  long  before  the  time 
when  civilization  first  dawned  upon  Europe,  while 
the  forests  of  Greece  served  only  as  a  refuge  to  a 
few  expatriated  wanderers,  whose  crimes  or  mis- 
fortunes had  driven  them  to  seek  in  their  fastnesses 
that  asylum  which  their  own  native  land  refused 
them, — and  centuries  before  the  foundation  of  the 
all  imperial  Rome, — a  great  and  powerful  nation, 
in  the  valley  of  the  Euphrates,  had  risen  from  in- 
fancy to  maturity,  and  from  maturity  was  again 
passing  to  that  inevitable  doom  of  decay  which 
awaits  the  mightiest  empire,  as  certainly  as  it  does 
the  meanest  of  mortal  things. 

The  wonderful  thing  is,  that  until  a  very  recent 
date  the  history  of  the  Assyrian  empire  should  have 
been  so  lost  as  to  be  treated  as  a  myth,  known  only 
to  us  from  certain  traditions  collected  by  the  Greeks, 
and  by  the  references  to  its  people,  its  monarchs, 
its  pride,  and  its  destruction,  in  the  holy  prophetical 
books ;  and  now,  through  the  vast  assistance  de- 
rived from  the  discoveries  made  at  Nineveh,  we 
have  the  history  of  thirty  centuries  laid  bare  to  our 
eyes.  The  revelations  of  Nineveh  will,  we  hope 
ere  long,  induce  a  similar  examination  of  the  ruins 
of  Babylon. 


ffnfe's  Slate  of  fujritcr  ®lpjrm 


O !  where,  Dodona,  is  thine  aged  grove, 
Prophetic  fount,  and  oracle  divine? 
What  valley  echoed  the  response  of  Jove? 
What  trace  remaineth  of  the  thunderer's  shrine  ? 
All,  all  forgotten — and  shall  man  repine 
That  his  frail  bonds  to  fleeting  life  are  broke  ? 
Cease,  cease  !  the  fate  of  gods  may  well  be  thine  : 
Wouldst  thou  survive  the  marble  or  the  oak  ? 
When  nations,  tongues,  and  worlds  must  sink  beneath 
the  stroke ! 


CONTENTS. 


The  Statue. 

The  Invention  of  Chryselephantine. 

Statues  by  Phidias. 

Phidias's  other  Works. 

The  Statue  of  Minerva. 

The  Temple  of  Minerva. 

The  Greeks — Athens. 

Temple  of  Jupiter  at  Athens. 

The  Olympian  Games. 

Pindar's  Odes. 

Temple  to  Jupiter  at  Agrigentum  and  at  Selin. 

Temple  to  Jupiter  at  Rome. 

Jupiter  Zeus. 

Jufiter  Ammon. 

Temple  of  Karnak. 

Temple  of  Jupiter  Ammon. 


THE  STATUE  OF  JUPITER  OLYMPIUS. 

Thou  art  not  silent !  oracles  are  thine 
Which  the  'wind  utters,  and  the  spirit  hears, — 
Lingering,  'mid  ruin'd  fane  and  broken  shrine, 
O'er  many  a  tale  and  trace  of  other  years  ! 
Bright  as  an  ark,  o'er  all  the  flood  of  tears 
That  warps  thy  cradle  land — thine  earthly  love — 
Where  hours  of  hope,  'mid  centuries  of  fears, 
Have  gleam'd,  lightnings  through  the  gloom  above,— 
Stands,  roofless  to  the  sky,  thy  house,  Olympiad  Jove ! 

Thy  column'd  aisles  with  whispers  of  the  past 
Are  vocal ! — and  along  thine  ivied  walls, 
While  Elian  echoes  murmur  in  the  blast, 
And  wild  flowers  hang,  like  victor-coronals, 
In  vain  the  turban'd  tyrant  rears  his  halls, 
And  plants  the  symbol  of  his  faith  and  slaughters,- 
Now,  even  now,  the  beam  of  promise  falls 
Bright  upon  Hellas,  as  her  own  bright  daughters, 
And  a  Greek  Ararat  is  rising  o'er  the  waters ! 

Thou  art  not  silent ! — when  the  southern  fair, 
Ionia's  moon,  looks  down  upon  thy  breast, 
Smiling,  as  pity  smiles  above  despair, 
Soft  as  young  beauty  soothing  age  to  rest, 
Sings  the  night-spirit  in  thy  weedy  crest ; 
And  she,  the  minstrel  of  the  moonlight  hours, 
Breathes,  like  some  lone  one  sighing  to  be  blest, 
Her  lay — half  hope,  half  sorrow — from  the  flowers, 
And  hoots  the  prophet-owl,  amid  his  tangled  bowers  ! 

And  round  thine  altar's  moldering  stones  are  born 
Mysterious  harpings,  wild  as  ever  crept 
From  him  who  waked  Aurora  every  morn, 
And  sad  as  those  he  sung  her  till  she  slept ! 
A  thousand,  and  a  thousand  years  have  swept 


138  SEVEN   W0NDEE8   OF  THE   WORLD. 

O'er  thee,  who  wert  a  moral  from  thy  spring — 
A  wreck  in  youth  !  nor  vainly  hast  thou  kept 
Thy  lyre !  Olympia's  soul  is  on  the  wing, 
And  a  few  Iphitus  has  waked  beneath  its  string ! 

This  statue  was  the  most  renowned  work  of  Phidias, 
the  illustrious  artist  of  Greece,  the  greatest  sculptor 
of  antiquity.  Phidias  was  a  native  of  Athens,  and 
although  the  exact  date  of  his  birth  is  not  known,  as 
far  as  can  be  judged  from  the  ascertained  dates  of 
his  works,  it  must  have  been  about  B.  C.  480. 

The  times  in  which  Phidias  lived  were  peculiarly 
favorable  to  the  development  of  his  genius  and  tal- 
ents, and  his  ability  must  have  been  shown  at  a  very 
early  age,  as  he  was  extensively  employed  upon 
public  works  during  the  administration  of  Cimon. 
When  Pericles  attained  the  supreme  power  in 
Athens,  Phidias  was  consulted  on  all  occasions  in 
which  the  embellishment  of  the  city,  either  by  mag- 
nificent buildings  or  by  sculptured  decorations,  was 
contemplated:  it  was  Phidias  who  had  the  direction, 
although  other  architects  and  artificers  were  employ- 
ed to  erect  them. 

It  was  at  this  time  the  genius  of  Phidias  conceived 
the  daring  idea  of  constructing  statues  of  the  gods 
of  Greece,  which  should  unite  the  opposite  equalities 
of  colossal  dimensions  with  materials  of  comparative 
minuteness  of  parts.  In  Greece,  sculpture  had  been 
gradually  developing  itself,  through  several  ages, 
from  the  primitive  use  of  the  commonest  woods  to 
the  employment  of  those  of  rarer  growth,  such  as 
ebony  or  cedar,, — in  clay,  in  marble,  in  metals, — till 
it  at  length  reached,  according  to  the  taste  of  the 
age,  the  highest  point  of  perfection,  in  the  combin- 
ation, upon  a  great  scale,  of  ivory  and  gold.     There 


STATTJE   OF  JUPITER   OLTMPIUS.  139 

was,  indeed,  independently  of  the  delicate  texture 
of  ivory,  its  pleasing  color,  and  capacity  for  high 
polish,  something  wonderfully  stimulating  to  the 
imagination,  to  consider  that  the  colossal  objects  of 
the  popular  worship,  which,  in  their  forms  alone, 
might  well  command  profound  reverence, — uniting 
all  the  characteristics  of  the  lovely,  the  majestic,  or 
the  terrible,  in  the  idea  of  superior  intelligence, — 
that  even  a  single  one  of  these  great  works  of  art 
had  required,  for  its  completion,  the  slaughter  of 
hundreds  of  mighty  beasts  in  distant  regions. 

The  Olympian  Games,  the  chief  national  festival 
of  the  Greeks,  were  celebrated  at  Olympia,  near  Elis, 
in  the  Peloponnesus,  every  fifty-ninth  year.  The 
origin  of  the  festival  is  lost  in  the  obscurity  of  Gre- 
cian history.  Olympia  was  a  sacred  spot,  and  had 
an  oracle  to  Jupiter  long  before  the  institution  of 
the  games.  The  Eleans  had  a  tradition,  and  it  is 
the  most  received  opinion,  that  the  games  were  first 
established  by  Hercules  in  honor  of  Jupiter  Olym- 
pius,  after  a  victory  B.  C.  1222.  The  care  and 
superintendence  of  the  games  were  intrusted  to  the 
people  of  Elis ;  and  Phidias,  having  fled  from 
Athens  to  avoid  the  consequences  of  a  false  charge 
made  against  him,  was,  by  the  Eleans,  commissioned 
to  execute  a  costly  statue  to  Jupiter  Olympius ;  and 
the  artist,  as  if  in  revenge  of  the  ill  treatment  of  the 
Athenians,  determined  on  producing  a  statue  which 
should  rival  the  fame  of  that  of  Minerva,  which  he 
had  executed  at  the  request  of  Pericles,  of  ivory  and 
gold,  thirty-nine  feet  high,  and  which  then  orna- 
mented the  Parthenon. 

The  description  furnished  us  by  Pausanias  from 
personal  observation,  and  corroborated  by  Strabo, 


140  SEVEN   WONDERS   OF  THE   WORLD. 

although  inadequate  to  give  a  precise  idea  of  the 
splendor  of  this  amazing  work  of  art,  which  com- 
manded the  wonder  and  admiration  of  the  time,  is 
sufficient  to  show  us  the  effect  produced  by  the  com- 
binations of  various  materials,  in  a  great  diversity 
of  color  and  ornament,  was  essentially  different  from 
that  of  sculpture  of  marble. 

The  statue  was  formed  of  gold  and  ivory,  sitting 
on  a  throne,  almost  touching  the  summit  of  the 
temple,  so  that  it  appeared  that  if  the  god  had  risen 
he  would  have  lifted  off  the  roof.  His  head  was 
crowned  by  an  olive-branch ;  in  his  right  hand  he 
carried  a  figure  of  Victory,  also  of  gold  and  ivory, 
holding  a  wreath,  and  having  a  crown  upon  her 
head.  In  the  left  hand  of  the  image  was  a  shining 
scepter  of  varied  metals ;  and  on  the  summit  of  the 
scepter  was  an  eagle.  The  sandals  and  the  robe 
thrown  over  the  lower  part  of  the  body  were  gold. 
Upon  the  robe  were  painted  figures  of  various  ani- 
mals and  flowers,  particularly  lilies.  The  throne 
was  composed  of  a  diversified  mixture  of  gold,  of 
precious  stones,  of  ivory,  and  of  ebony,  exhibiting 
figures  of  all  kinds,  painted  and  sculptured.  We 
are  not  told  what  were  the  dimensions  of  the  statue, 
but  the  height  of  the  interior  of  the  temple  in  which 
it  was  placed  was  sixty  English  feet. 

A  new  career  was  opened  to  Phidias  by  the  mag- 
nificence of  Pericles.  The  ancient  temples  had 
statues  of  gold  and  ivory ;  but  they  were  not  colos- 
sal. It  was  for  him  to  create  those  gigantic  monu- 
ments which  should  cause  the  shrine  to  appear  too 
small  for  the  divinity,  and  thus  to  bring  the  idea  of 
the  infinite  and  finite  into  a  contrast  too  powerful 
for  the  senses  to  withhold  their  homage. 


STATUE    OF    JUPITER    OLYMPIUS.  141 

The  peculiar  merit  of  Phidias  did  not  consist  in 
his  mere  adoption  of  the  colossal  form,  hut  in  his 
employment  of  a  minute  material  to  produce  in 
combination  the  effect  of  a  vast  solid  surface.  The 
idea  of  colossal  statuary,  without  doubt,  belongs  to 
the  infancy  of  art.  The  gods  of  the  Hindoos  are 
'  three  times  the  height  of  ordinary  men,  as  we  find 
at  Elephanta  and  Ellora.  Those  of  the  Chinese  are, 
in  some  cases,  thirty  feet  high ;  they  are  commonly 
about  fifteen.  Most  probably  the  Greeks  received 
a  taste  for  the  colossal  from  the  Egyptians,  of  which 
so  many  specimens  yet  survive. 

In  the  mixture  of  materials,  the  object  of  the 
artist  was,  doubtless  in  a  great  degree,  to  produce 
an  illusion  approaching  nearer  to  reality  than  the 
cold  severity  of  sculptured  stone.  It  was  the  result 
of  that  spirit  of  paganism  which  required  that  every 
device  of  art  should  be  employed  to  encourage  the 
belief  of  the  real  presence  of  the  god  in  his  temple. 
The  votaries  indeed  knew  that  the  statues  of  their 
divinities  were  the  work  of  human  hands ;  and  the 
artist  had  no  desire  to  impose  upon  the  popular 
credulity  in  this  respect, — for  the  statue  of  the 
Olympian  Jupiter  bore  an  inscription  that  it  was 
the  work  of  Phidias.  But  still  we  learn,  that  after 
the  efforts  of  genius  had  been  exerted  to  produce  a 
most  overpowering,  eifect  upon  the  imagination  of 
the  beholder  by  a  combination  of  beauty  and  splen- 
dor, the  natural  tendency  of  the  votaries  to  super- 
stition required  the  priests  to  invent  some  legend, 
which  should  invest  the  work  with  supernatural 
claims  to  the  popular  reverence. 

We  are  therefore  told  by  the  heathen  historians, 
that  the  skill  of  Phidias  received  the  testimony  of 


142         SEVEN   WONDERS   OF  THE   WORLD. 

Jupiter  himself.  The  work  being  finished,  the 
artist  prayed  the  god  would  make  known  if  he  was 
satisfied,  and  immediately  the  pavement  of  the 
temple  was  struck  by  lightning,  and  the  spot  was 
afterward  marked  by  a  bronze  vase.  The  reputa- 
tion of  this  masterly  production,  for  four  centuries, 
drew  wondering  crowds  to  Elis;  for  throughout 
Greece  and  Italy  it  was  held  as  a  calamity  to  die 
without  having  seen  it.  Those  who  went  to  the 
temple  imagined  they  saw  not  the  gold  of  the  mines 
of  Thessaly,  or  the  ivory  of  India,  but  the  son  him- 
self of  Saturn  and  Rhea,  whom  Phidias  had  caused 
to  descend  from  heaven.  And  we  are  told,  that 
the  effect  which  this  wonderful  statue  produced 
upon  the  mind  was  not  limited  to  the  superstition 
of  the  multitude ;  for  one  of  the  most  celebrated  of 
Roman  senators  acknowledged,  that  when  looking 
upon  the  Olympian  Jupiter  his  mind  was  moved  as 
if  the  god  were  present.  This  circumstance  proves 
that  heathenism  degraded  the  minds  and  stultified 
the  intellect  both  of  high  and  low.  How  applicable 
to  all  such  are  the  words  of  the  apostle :  "  Profess- 
ing themselves  to  be  wise  they  became  fools,  and 
changed  the  glory  of  the  incorruptible  God  into 
an  image  made  like  to  corruptible  man !" 

Impenetrable  obscurity  covers  the  early  age  of 
Greece,  and  buildings  of  gigantic  dimensions,  still 
to  be  seen,  testify  its  having  been  in  a  very  remote 
period  the  abode  of  a  civilized  race,  and  tradition 
assigns  their  erection  to  the  Cyclops,  an  imaginary 
people.  The  earliest  race  of  which  there  is  any  record 
were  the  Pelasgians,  who  were  a  commercial  and 
agricultural,  and,  of  course,  a  peaceful  and  industrious 


STATUE    OF    JUPITER    OLYMPIUS.  143 

community ;  and  the  religion  of  this  people  appears 
to  have  been  of  a  rural  character.  In  process  of 
time  the  Pelasgians  were  followed  by  the  Achseans, 
a  warlike  race,  and  the  deities  they  worshiped 
were  supposed  to  preside  over  the  various  parts  of 
nature  and  powers  of  mind.  Under  the  names  of 
Zeus,  Apollo,  Hecate,  Pallas,  &c,  these  deities  were 
honored  by  temples,  sacrifices,  processions,  and  fes- 
tivals ;  oracles  were  believed  to  announce  their  will 
and  the  future.  Somewhere  about  this  period  was 
established  the  city  of  Dodona,  where  the  earliest 
temple  to  Jupiter  was  erected,  and  near  it  the  first 
oracle,  the  responses  of  which  were  delivered  from 
the  sacred  oak :  the  site  of  Dodona  has  not  been 
determined. 

Byron's  address  to  Greece,  past  and  present, 
may  be  a  fitting  introduction  to  a  summary  of  its 
history : — 

Clime  of  the  unforgotten  brave  ! 
Whose  land  from  plain  to  mountain  cave 
Was  freedom's  home  or  glory's  grave ! 
Shrine  of  the  mighty !  can  it  be 
That  this  is  all  remains  of  thee  ? 
Approach,  thou  craven  crouching  slave : 

Say,  is  not  this  Thermopylae? 
These  waters  blue  that  round  you  lave, 

0  servile  oifsjn-ing  of  the  free — 
Pronounce  what  sea,  what  shore  is  this? 
The  gulf,  the  rock  of  Salamis ! 
These  scenes,  their  story  not  unknown, 
Arise,  and  make  again  your  own ; 
Snatch  from  the  ashes  of  your  sires 
The  embers  of  their  former  fires ; 
And  he  who  in  the  strife  expires, 
Will  add  to  theirs  a  name  of  fear, 
That  tyranny  shall  quake  to  hear, 
And  leave  his  sons  a  hope,  a  fame, 


144         SEVEN   WONDERS   OF   THE   WORLD. 

They  too  will  rather  die  than  shame : 
For  freedom's  battle  once  begun, 
Bequeath'd  by  bleeding  sire  to  son, 
Though  baffled  oft,  is  ever  won. 
Bear  witness,  Greece,  thy  living  page 
Attest  it,  many  a  deathless  age ! 
While  kings,  in  dusty  darkness  hid, 
Have  left  a  nameless  pyramid ; 
Thy  heroes,  though  the  general  doom 
Have  swept  the  column  from  their  tomb, 
A  mightier  monument  command — 
The  mountains  of  their  native  land ! 
There  points  thy  Muse  to  stranger's  eye 
The  graves  of  those  that  cannot  die ! 
'T  were  long  to  tell,  and  sad  to  trace, 
Each  step  from  splendor  to  disgrace ; 
Enough — no  foreign  foe  could  quell 
Thy  soul,  till  from  itself  it  fell ; 
Yes !  self-abasement  paved  the  way 
To  villain  bonds  and  despot  sway. 

The  time  of  disturbance  and  revolution  came,  and 
the  Dorians,  a  brave  and  hardy  race,  left  their 
abode  in  the  mountains,  and  spread  their  power  over 
Greece.  Of  this  race  the  Spartans  were  the  most 
renowned;  by  the  celebrated  legislator,  Lycurgus, 
their  institutions  were  fixed  for  a  considerable  time, 
and  while  they  were  in  vigor  the  Spartan  character 
was  distinguished  for  its  sterner  virtues.  With  the 
decay  of  the  power  of  the  Spartans,  Athens  arose  to 
the  supreme  power  over  the  Hellenic  confederacy, 
and  by  the  wisdom  of  their  laws  attained  a  pitch  of 
eminence  in  acts  and  arms  that  never  had  been 
excelled.  Darius,  the  Persian,  meditated  the  con- 
quest of  Greece,  and  sent  a  large  army  (some  say 
three  hundred  thousand)  against  it;  but  the  plain 
of  Marathon  witnessed  the  total  defeat  of  the  Per- 
sians by  ten  thousand  Greeks :  for  the  first  time  in 


STATUE  OF   JUPITER   OLYMPIUS.  145 

the  world's  history,   the  power  of  numbers  was 
broken  by  that  of  intelligence. 

Where'er  we  tread  't  is  haunted  holy  ground  ; 
No  earth  of  thine  is  lost  in  vulgar  mold, 
But  one  vast  realm  of  wonder  spreads  around, 
And  all  the  Muses'  tales  seem  truly  told, 
Till  the  sense  aches  with  gazing  to  behold 
The  scenes  our  earliest  dreams  have  dwelt  upon : 
Each  hill  and  dale,  each  deep'ning  glen  and  wold 
Defies  the  power  which  crush'd  thy  temples  gone : 
Age  shakes  Athena's  tower,  but  spares  gray  Marathon. 

The  sun,  the  soil,  but  not  the  slave,  the  same ; 
Unchanged  in  all  except  its  foreign  lord — 
Preserves  alike  its  bounds  and  boundless  fame 
The  battle-field,  where  Persia's  victim  horde 
First  bow'd  beneath  the  brunt  of  Hellas'  sword, 
As  on  the  morn  to  distant  glory  dear, 
When  Marathon  became  a  magic  word ; 
Which  utter'd,  to  the  hearer's  eye  appear 
The  camp,  the  host,  the  fight,  the  conqueror's  career. 

The  flying  Mede,  his  shaftless  broken  bow ; 
The  fiery  Greek,  his  red  pursuing  spear ; 
Mountains  above,  earth's,  ocean's  plains  below, 
Death  in  the  front,  destruction  in  the  rear ! 
Such  was  the  scene — what  now  remaineth  here  ? 
What  sacred  trophy  marks  the  hallow'd  ground, 
Recording  freedom's  smile  and  Asia's  tear  ? 
The  rifled  urn,  the  violated  mound, 
The  dust  thy  courser's  hoof,  rude  stranger !  spurns  around. 

By  their  unity  they  withstood  the  vast  power  of 
the  Persians  under  Xerxes,  who  led  an  army  of  two 
millions  over  the  Hellespont.  Treachery  only,  by 
revealing  a  passage  unprotected,  enabled  the  enemy 
to  reach  Athens,  and  to  destroy  it ;  but  the  defeat 
of  his  fleet  at  Salamis  caused  Xerxes  to  retreat, 
leaving  behind  him  an  army  of  three  hundred  thou- 
sand men,  who  were  entirely  defeated  by  the  Greeks 


146  SEVEN   WONDERS   OF  TIIE   WORLD. 

at  Platsea  with  little  over  a  third  of  their  number, — 
and  but  forty  thousand  of  the  immense  Persian 
horde  were  enabled  to  return.  Athens  was  rebuilt, 
and  the  arts  of  architecture  and  sculpture  were  em- 
ployed to  ornament  the  city  to  a  degree  of  excel- 
lence that  has  never  been  surpassed  ;  the  encourage- 
ment afforded  to  literature  and  all  the  arts  of  civil 
life  have  been  models  to  aftertimes.  Successive 
ages  and  dynasties  added  to  the  splendor  of  Athens, 
and  when  it  fell  into  the  Eoman  power  temples  and 
theaters  continued  to  be  erected  and  adorned.  It 
was  by  the  liberality  of  the  Emperor  Hadrian  that 
the  magnificent  temple  of  Jupiter  Olympius,  which 
had  been  commenced  on  the  site  of  an  older  temple, 
and  had  been  worked  on  at  intervals,  was  completed ; 
and  at  the  time  was  one  of  the  most  magnificent  in 
the  world,  and  it  was  one  of  the  largest  ever  erected 
by  the  Greeks  in  honor  of  their  deities.  This  tem- 
ple and  its  sacred  inclosure  was  filled  with  statues : 
there  were  two  of  the  emperor,  made  of  marble,  from 
Thasos,  and  two  others  of  stone,  from  Egypt,  besides 
a  colossal  statue  of  the  deity  of  gold  and  ivory.  The 
temple  was  built  of  the  purest  white  Pentelic  marble ; 
it  had  a  frontage  of  two  hundred  feet,  and  was  about 
three  hundred  and  fifty  in  length.  It  was  adorned 
and  supported  by  one  hundred  and  twenty  columns, 
sixteen  of  which  are  all  that  now  remain ;  and  these, 
which  are  fluted  and  having  rich  Corinthian  capitals, 
tower  more  than  sixty  feet  above  the  plain,  perfect 
as  they  were  reared.  Some  years  ago  a  hermit 
made  his  lonely  cell  on  the  architrave  connecting 
three  of  these  columns,  and  passed  his  life  in  that 
elevated  solitude  accessible  only  to  the  crane  and 
the  eagle :  the  hermit  has  long  since  passed  to  his 


STATUE   OF  JUriTER   OLYMPIUS.  147 

silent  home,  but  this  little  habitation  still  resists  the 
whistling  of  the  wind,  and  awakens  the  curiosity  of 
the  wondering  traveler. 

Separated  from  Asia  by  the  Hellespont  and  the 
long  defiles  of  Thrace,  shielded  on  the  north  by  the 
lofty  chain  of  mountains  which -divide  it,  with  Italy, 
from  the  open  plains  of  Northern  Europe,  and  on 
every  other  side  surrounded  by  water,  Greece  com- 
bines with  all  these  external  fortifications  the  advan- 
tages of  an  internal  construction  resembling  a  castle 
of  the  middle  ages.  Wall  is  added  to  wall,  and  por- 
tal to  portal,  forming  an  inextricable  labyrinth, 
which  affords  a  retreat  and  an  asylum  for  its  defend- 
ers after  a  defeat,  and  presents  snares  and  perils  to 
its  enemies  after  a  victory. 

Where  on  this  earth  could  be  found  a  spot  more 
appropriate  for  consecration  To  Liberty  ? — 

The  nodding  promontories  and  blue  isles, 

And  cloud-like  mountains,  and  dividuous  waves 
Of  Greece,  bask'd  glorious  in  the  open  smiles 

Of  favoring  heaven ;  from  their  enchained  caves 
Prophetic  echoes  flung  dim  melody 
On  the  unapprehensive  wild. 
The  vine,  the  corn,  the  olive  mild, 
Grew  savage  yet,  to  human  use  unreconciled ; 

And  like  unfolded  flowers  beneath  the  sea, 

Like  man's  thought  dark  in  the  infant's  brain, 

Like  aught  that  is  which  wraps  what  is  to  be, 
Art's  deathless  dreams  lay  vail'd  by  many  a  vein 
Of  Farian  stone ;  and  yet  a  speechless  child, 

"Verse  murmur'd,  and  philosophy  did  strain 
Her  lidless  eyes  for  thee ;  when  o'er  the  JEgean  main 
Athens  arose :  a  city  such  as  vision 

Builds  from  the  purple  crags  and  silver  towers 
Of  battlemented  cloud,  as  in  derision 

Of  kingliest  masonry :  the  ocean-floors 
Pave  it ;  the  evening  sky  pavilions  it ; 


148  SEVEN    WONDERS   OF   THE   WORLD. 

Its  portals  are  inhabited 

By  thunder-zoned  winds,  each  head 
Within  its  cloudy  wings  with  sun-fire  garlanded, 
A  divine  work !    Athens,  diviner  yet, 

Gleam'd  with  its  crest  of  columns,  on  the  will  . 

Of  man,  as  on  a  mount  of  diamond,  set ; 

For  thou  wert,  and  thine  all-creative  skill 
Peopled  with  forms  that  mark  the  eternal  dead 
In  marble  immortality,  that  hill 
Which  was  thine  earliest  throne  and  latest  oracle. 

Upon  this  soil,  shone  upon  by  a  glorious  sun, 
bathed  by  romantic  seas,  adorned  to  profusion  by 
beauties  of  luxuriant  vegetation,  was  cast  a  race  of 
men,  endowed  with  activity  and  courage,  and  pos- 
sessed of  a  spirit  of  independence,  and  contempt  of 
danger,  well  fitted  to  become  the  beacon-lights  in 
the  path  of  liberty  to  future  ages  of  the  world. 

Prior  to  the  execution  of  the  remarkable  statue 
we  have  described,  and  while  in  his  native  city  of 
Athens,  among  the  celebrated  events  upon  which 
the  talents  of  Phidias  were  exercised,  the  temple  of 
Minerva,  called  also  the  Parthenon,  justly  claims 
preeminence.  No  pains,  no  expense,  were  spared 
to  make  this  one  of  the  most  splendid  and  perfect 
monuments  of  art ;  and,  fortunately,  enough  exists 
in  the  present  day,  both  of  its  architecture  and 
sculptural  decorations,  to  confirm  the  high  encomi- 
ums passed  upon  it  by  those  who  saw  it  in  its  pris- 
tine state.  The  temple  has  always  been  considered 
the  most  refined  of  the  Grecian  Doric  order,  and 
one  of  the  noblest  remains  of  antiquity.  The  entire 
structure  was  of  marble  ;  and  all  the  circumstances 
which  related  to  the  birth  of  Minerva  were  beauti- 
fully and  minutely  represented  in  bass-relief  over 
the  entrance.     One  object  of  art  that  decorated  the 


STATUE   OF  JUPITEK   OLYMPIUS.  149 

interior  was  the  statue  of  Minerva,  of  ivory  and 
gold,  thirty-nine  feet  high,  which  was  the  sole  work 
of  Phidias :  the  value  of  the  gold  upon  this  statue 
was  six  hundred  thousand  dollars  of  our  money ;  of 
this  it  was  stripped  by  Lachares,  about  one  hundred 
and  twenty  years  after  the  death  of  Pericles. 

Alaric  the  Goth  is  sup230sed  to  have  commenced 
the  work  of  destruction  on  this  edifice.  The  roof  was 
shattered  by  an  explosion  in  1687,  when  it  was  used 
as  a  powder-magazine  by  the  Turks  at  the  time  the 
city  was  besieged  by  the  Yenetians.  About  twenty 
years  prior  to  that  time,  travelers,  who  visited 
Athens,  saw  every  antiquity  of  which  there  is  now 
any  trace  in  the  Acropolis,  in  a  tolerable  state  of 
preservation ;  the  temple  might  then  be  considered 
entire,  although  the  interior  had  been  more  or  less 
despoiled  and  injured  by  having  been  first  convert- 
ed into  a  Christian  church,  and  afterward  into  a 
mosque.  Since  the  year  1687,  the  Turks  have  made 
it  a  quarry,  and  virtuosi  have  rivaled  them  in  the 
work  of  havoc  and  spoliation.  At  present  only 
twenty-nine  columns  remain,  some  of  which  no 
longer  support  their  entablature. 

Still,  even  in  its  present  and  mangled  state,  it  is 
the  admiration  of  every  beholder  ;  artists  who  have 
seen  it,  speak  of  it  in  terms  of  enthusiasm ;  what  re- 
mains of  it  may  be  said  to  far  exceed  any  idea  that 
can  be  derived  by  drawings  or  descriptions,  and 
that  it  appears  to  be  on  a  much  larger  scale  than  it 
really  is. 

Indeed,  in  its  original  state,  the  effect  must  have 
been  impressive :  taking  the  building  by  itself,  with- 
out reference  to  the  advantages  it  possessed  in  site, 
locality,  and  climate,  it  was  distinguished  by  beauty 


150  SEVEN   WONDEKS    OF   THE   WORLD. 

of  material,  exquisiteness  of  execution,  and  grandeur 
of  style ;  while  to  these  merits  must  be  added  the 
wonderfully  rich  display  of  sculpture  in  the  pedi- 
ments, the  metopes,  and  the  frieze  along  the  exterior 
of  the  cella,  and  also  the  decoration  of  painting  and 
bronze  ornaments.  The  chief  portion  of  the  sculp- 
ture that  remained  was  removed  by  Lord  Elgin,  and 
is  now  in  the  British  Museum  at  London. 

At  Olympia  was  instituted  that  periodical  festival, 
which  became  a  mode  of  reckoning  dates :  it  consist- 
ed of  religious  ceremonies,  athletic  contests,  and 
races ;  and,  like  all  other  public  festivals,  might  be 
attended  by  all  who  were  of.  the  Hellenic  race. 
Spectators  came  not  only  from  Greece,  but  from 
all  the  Grecian  colonies  throughout  the  world,  some 
of  which  sent  solemn  deputations  to  represent  their 
different  states.  The  games  appear  to  have  been 
neglected  after  a  time,  but  were  reinstituted  with 
great  solemnity  about  B.  C.  884,  and  this  forms  a 
celebrated  epoch  in  Grecian  history,  and  is  the  be- 
ginning of  the  Olympiads,  which  is  the  space  of 
time  between  the  celebration  of  the  games, — that  is, 
every  fifth  year.  They  were  again  neglected  till 
B.  C.  776,  from  which  date  they  were  regularly  and 
constantly  celebrated.  The  presidents,  whose  num- 
ber had  varied  from  time  to  time,  were  obliged  sol- 
emnly to  swear  that  they  would  act  impartially, 
not  take  any  bribes,  or  discover  why  they  rejected 
some  of  the  combatants.  No  women  were  allowed 
to  appear,  or  even  to  cross  the  Alpheus,  during  the 
festival,  under  pain  of  death.  This  law,  however, 
was  sometimes  neglected,  for  we  find  women  taking 
part  in  the  chariot-races ;  and  an  exception  was 
made  to  this  law  of  exclusion  in  favor  of  the  priest- 


STATUE   OF  JUPITER   OLYMPIUS.  151 

ess  of  Ceres,  and  of  certain  virgins,  who  bad  places 
assigned  to  them  opposite  the  judges. 

In  these  games  were  exhibited  running,  leaping, 
wrestling,  boxing,  and  throwing  the  quoit.  Besides 
these,  there  were  horse  and  chariot  races,  and  also 
contentions  in  poetry  and  the  fine  arts.  No  crimin- 
als, or  such  as  were  connected  with  impious  or  guilty 
persons,  were  suffered  to  present  themselves  as 
combatants.  The  wrestlers  were  matched  and  ap- 
pointed by  lot.  The  equestrian  contests  were  nec- 
essarily confined  to  the  wealthy,  who  displayed  in 
them  great  magnificence  ;  but  the  athletic  exercises 
were  open  to  the  poorest  citizens.  The  combatants 
underwent  a  long  and  laborious  training,  the  nature 
of  which  varied  with  the  game  they  were  engaged 
in.  The  competitors  who  intended  to  engage  were 
obliged  to  appear  at  Elis,  and  to  enter  their  names 
and  state  the  prize  for  which  they  intended  to  con- 
tend, ten  months  prior  to  the  festival ;  the  interval 
was  spent  in  preparatory  exercises,  and  for  one 
month  they  were  thus  engaged  in  the  gymnasium 
at  Elis.  When  the  festival  arrived,  their  names 
were  proclaimed  in  the  Stadium,  and  after  proving 
their  qualification,  they  were  led  to  the  altar  of 
Jupiter,  where  they  swore  that  they  would  not  be 
guilty  of  any  fraud,  nor  any  attempt  to  interfere 
with  the  fair  course  of  the  games. 

The  prizes  were  at  first  of  intrinsic  value,  but 
after  the  seventh  Olympiad,  the  only  reward  that 
the  conqueror  obtained  was  a  crown  or  garland  of 
wild  olive,  cut  from  a  tree  in  the  sacred  grove  at 
Olympia,  which  was  said  to  have  been  brought  by 
Hercules  from  the  land  of  the  Hyperboreans.  Small 
and  trilling  as  the  reward  may  appear,  it  was  a 

10 


152  SEVEN  WONDERS   OF   THE   WORLD. 

stimulus  to  virtue  and  courage,  and  was  the  source 
of  greater  honors  than  the  most  unbounded  treas- 
ures. Fresh  honors  awaited  the  victor  on  his  return 
home ;  the  entrance  to  his  native  city  was  not  through 
the  gate,  but,  to  make  it  more  triumphant,  it  was 
through  a  breach  made  in  the  wall.  Banquets  were 
given  by  his  friends ;  painters  and  poets  employed 
to  celebrate  his  name ;  indeed,  the  victories  obtain- 
ed at  Olympia  are  the  subjects  of  some  of  the  most 
beautiful  odes  of  Pindar. 

It  is  generally  admitted  that  the  chief  object  of 
this  festival  was  to  form  a  bond  of  union  for  the 
Grecian  states.  The  more  effectually  to  attain  this 
end,  it  was  immediately  connected  with  the  worship 
of  the  principal  deity  of  the  mythological  reign  at 
the  period,  and  contiguous  to  the  temple  devoted  to 
him.  Besides,  the  exercises  of  the  body  must  have 
had  immense  influence  in  forming  the  national  char- 
acter, and,  as  a  necessary  part  of  a  manly  education, 
might  be  considered  as  one  of  the  causes  of  the  vigor 
and  energy  which  characterized  the  Hellenic  race. 
Beyond  all,  the  beneficial  effects  of  this  gathering 
of  the  Grecian  people  must  have  been  felt,  not  only 
in  a  commercial  point  of  view, — Olympia,  during 
the  celebration,  being  the  center  of  trade, — but  the 
scope  it  afforded  for  the  free  interchange  of  opinions 
and  the  publication  of  knowledge,  as  well  as  finding 
a  fit  audience  for  literary  compositions. 

Pindar,  in  the  Olympic  Odes,  addresses  and  in- 
vokes the  god.  The  first  ode  he  commences  with 
announcing  his  intention  to  celebrate  the  fes- 
tivals : — 

And  we  "will  sing  in  loftiest  strain 
The  contest  of  Olympiad  plain ; 


STATUE   OF  JUPITER   OLYMPIUS.  153 

Whence,  Saturn's  mighty  son  to  praise, 
Poets  the  hymn  of  triumph  raise. 

The  fourth  ode  commences  with  a  sublime  invo- 
cation to  Jupiter : — 

Thy  circling  hours,  immortal  Jove, 
Who  mak'st  the'  unwearied  lightnings  move, 
With  song  and  lyre's  accordant  string 
Rouse  me  the  victor's  praise  to  sing. 
When  friends  succeed,  the  good  rejoice, 
And  hail  the  sweet-toned  herald's  voice. 

0  son  of  Saturn ! — thou  who  rul'st  above, 
Where  iEtna  with  his  burning  load  imprest 
Weighs  down  the  hundred-handed  Typhon's  breast, 

Deign  with  thy  favor  to  approve 
The  hymn  which  to  the  victor's  praise  address'd, 

Aspires  to  crown  the'  Olympic  strife, 
That  gilds  with  glory's  beam  the  latest  hour  of  life. 

The  eighth  ode  personifies  and  invokes  Olympia : — 

Olympia,  mother  of  heroic  games, 

Whose  golden  wreath  the  victor's  might  proclaims, 

Great  queen  of  truth ! — thou  whose  prophetic  band 

From  victims  blazing  in  the  sacred  fire 

Jove's  sovereign  will,  the  lightning's  guide,  inquire, 

What  favor'd  mortal  shall  the  crown  command 

Which  bids  the  anxious  hour  of  contest  close, 

And  gives  to  virtuous  toil  the  guerdon  and  repose. 

At  Agrigentum,  about  three  miles  inland  from 
the  south-west  coast  of  the  island  of  Sicily,  in  what 
is  now  called  the  Valley  of  Mazara,  a  Grecian  colony 
settled  in  556  B.  C,  and  there  raised  a  city  which 
surpassed  all  others  in  the  magnificence  of  its  build- 
ings. 

Pindar  commences  his  twelfth  Pythian  ode  witli 
an  invocation  to  the  city  of  Agrigentum,  personify- 
ing it  in  the  character  of  a  goddess : — 


154  SEVEN   WONDEES   OF   THE   WORLD. 

Thee,  shining  on  the  well-built  mountain's  head, 
Fairest  of  mortal  cities,  I  entreat, 

Proserpina's  imperial  seat, 
By  Acragas'  sheep-feeding  banks  outspread. 

And  in  the  third  Olympic  ode, — 

I  would  awake  the'  Olympic  string, 
And  raise  the  lyric  song,  to  crown 
Bright  Agrigentum  with  renown. 

We  learn  from  Polybius  that  the  settlers  were  Kho- 
dians,  who  introduced  the  worship  of  Jupiter  Olym- 
pius,  and  dedicated  to  the  god  a  most  sumptuous  tem- 
ple, yielding  in  splendor  to  none  even  in  Greece. 
The  people  in  a  very  short  period  rose  to  vast  wealth, 
and  in  their  buildings  exhibited  a  considerable  taste 
in  the  fine  arts ;  and  it  was  observed  by  Plato,  "They 
built  as  if  they  were  to  live  forever,  and  feasted  as 
though  they  were  to  die  on  the  morrow."  Their 
duration  was  marvelously  short,  for  only  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  years  after  their  first  settlement  the 
Carthaginians  besieged  the  city,  and  laid  it  in  ruins : 
the  temple  of  Jupiter  was  then  being  roofed  in,  but 
the  ruin  of  the  people  and  the  devastation  were  so 
complete,  that  no  means  were  left  to  finish  it.  The 
magnificence  and  gigantic  size  of  the  remains  bear 
testimony  to  the  statements  made  by  ancient  histori- 
ans of  the  extraordinary  wealth  of  the  Agrigentines. 

This  temple  of  Jupiter  was,  excepting  only  the 
temple  of  Diana  at  Ephesus,  the  largest  Grecian 
building  applied  to  sacred  purposes.  The  dimensions 
given  by  Mr.  Cockerell,  who  traced  the  foundation, 
were,  extreme  length,  three  hundred  and  sixty-nine 
feet ;  breadth,  one  hundred  and  eighty-two  feet.  It 
was  of  the  Doric  order,  but  had  no  portico,  the  in- 
terval between  the  columns  being  filled  up  by  wall : 


STATUE  OF  JUPITER   OLTMPIUS.  155 

this  deviation  is  supposed  to  have  risen  from  the  im- 
possibility of  finding  stones  large  enough  to  serve  as 
the  epistyle  or  architrave,  the  distance  from  center 
to  center  of  the  columns  being  thirty  feet,  and  a 
series  of  masses  of  stones  of  that  length,  and  of  cor- 
responding depth  and  thickness,  would  have  been 
required,  had  not  the  superincumbent  entablature 
been  sustained  by  a  continual  wall.  As  it  is,  many 
of  the  blocks  of  the  entablature  weigh  near  nine 
tons.  The  echinus  of  each  column  was  formed  by 
two  stones,  each  a  quarter  of  the  whole  capital,  two 
of  which  now  remain,  each  of  them  weighing  by 
computation  over  twenty-one  tons.  These  enor- 
mous masses  were  raised  to  a  height  of  seventy  feet 
from  the  ground.  The  flutings  of  the  columns  were 
wide  enough  to  contain  a  man  in  their  hollow,  as  in 
a  niche.  On  the  pediments  were  sculptured  the 
wars  of  the  giants,  and  the  siege  of  Troy.  "Within, 
the  temple  was  divided  into  what  we  may  call  a 
nave  and  two  aisles.  To  comprehend  the  immense 
size  of  this  edifice,  the  nave  may  be  said  to  have 
been  eighteen  feet  higher  than  the  nave  of  St.  Paul's 
Cathedral,  and  two  feet  broader.  The  walls  of  the 
interior  were  strengthened  by  massive  pilasters,  sup- 
porting an  entablature,  upon  which  stood  a  row  of 
Atlantes,  as  the  Greeks  termed  the  male  figures  thus 
applied.  These  colossal  figures  were  twenty-five 
feet  high,  and  supported  an  upper  entablature,  which 
rose  about  one  hundred  and  ten  feet  above  the  floor 
of  the  temple.  Mr.  Cockerell  collected  sufficient 
fragments  to  restore  one  of  these  giants ;  the  width 
of  the  chest  was  more  than  six  feet. 

Of  this  splendid  building,  with  the  exception  of 
the   basement,   scarce   one    stone    remains    above 


156         SEVEN    WONDERS   OF  THE   WORLD. 

another.  Not  a  single  column  remains  standing, 
but  two  capitals,  with  a  portion  of  the  entablature 
attached,  are  still  to  be  seen,  which,  by  their  gigantic 
size,  excite  the  wonder  and  admiration  of  the 
traveler.  Altogether  this  temple  must  have  been 
one  of  the  grandest  and  most  magnificent  that  ever 
existed. 

At  Selinus,  on  the  eastern  coast  of  Sicily,  a  city 
founded  725  B.  C,  are  the  remains  of  six  larg-e 
temples,  all  of  the  most  massive  and  solid  construc- 
tion, and  among  them  a  temple  supposed  to  have 
been  dedicated  to  Jupiter.  The  blocks  of  stone  are 
of  great  magnitude ;  one  which  formed  the  archi- 
trave is  twenty-one  feet  in  length,  near  six  feet 
wide,  and  seven  feet  in  depth,  weighing  probably 
fifty  tons.  "We  are  lost  in  admiration  of  the  means 
employed  by  the  ancients  in  lifting  such  a  mass, 
and  placing  it  safely  upon  the  capitals  of  columns 
upward  of  forty  feet  from  the  ground. 

The  temple  of  Jupiter  at  Eome  was  built  by 
order  of  Augustus,  and  is  supposed,  from  a  frag- 
ment of  an  inscription  on  the  entablature,  to  have 
been  restored  by  Severus  and  Caracalla.  The  por- 
tico was  hexastyle,  of  the  Corinthian  order,  and  the 
columns,  which  are  deeply  fluted,  are  of  white  Luna 
marble.  The  basement  was  lined  with  marble,  and 
the  steps  are  constructed  between  the  columns  in 
the  basement.  Upon  the  frieze  are  sculptured 
various  instruments  of  sacrifice,  and  the  decorations 
which  remain  indicate  that  the  building  was  highly 
ornamented. 

In  the  Forum  at  Eome  is  another  temple,  said  to 
have  been  dedicated  to  Jupiter.  The  existing  ruin 
consists  of  three  marble  Corinthian  fluted  columns. 


STATUE    OF   JUPITEK   OLYMPIUS.  157 

on  an  isolated  basement  of  travertine :  the  columns 
support  a  part  of  the  highly-enriched  entablature, 
which  is  in  tolerable  preservation.  The  proportions 
and  execution  of  this  fragment  are  the  finest  ever 
seen,  and,  since  the  restoration  of  true  architecture,  it 
has  served  as  the  great  model  of  the  Corinthian  order. 

John  of  Malala  says  that  .zElius  Antoninus  Pius 
built  a  great  temple  to  Jupiter  at  Heliopolis,  (Baal- 
bec,)  in  Phoenicia,  which  was  one  of  the  Wonders 
of  the  World,  and  on  one  of  the  coins  of  Sept. 
Severus  the  reverse  has  the  front  of  the  great  tem- 
ple of  Baalbec,  which  is  dedicated  to  Jupiter.  The 
remains  are  not  distinguishable  among  the  rest  of 
the  ruins. 

Jupiter,  the  supreme  Roman  deity,  known  to  the 
Greeks  as  Zeus,  who,  on  the  dethronement  of  his 
father,  Kronos,  had  the  dominion  of  the  aerial  re- 
gions, appears  to  have  been  originally  an  elemen- 
tary deity,  who  was  worshiped  as  the  god  of  the  air : 
snow,  rain,  meteors,  and  all  the  aerial  phenomena 
are  attributed  to  him.  In  Homer  he  is  styled  the 
king  or  father  of  gods  and  men :  the  thunder  is  the 
weapon  with  which  he  terrifies  and  punishes  the 
guilty.  The  Zeus  of  Homer  is  like  an  earthly 
monarch,  partial,  capricious,  and  apt  to  use  his 
power  somewhat  tyrannically,  yet  kind  and  indul- 
gent to  his  children :  he  is  to  man  the  guardian  of 
social  and  civil  life,  punishing  breaches  of  law  and 
hospitality,  and  in  general  the  great  director  of  the 
destinies  of  mankind.  Thus  is  he  depicted  by  He- 
siod : — 

Begin  we  from  the  Muses,  0  my  song ! 
Who  the  great  spirit  of  their  father  Jove 
Delight  in  heaven ;  whose  voice  symphonious  breathes 
The  present,  and  the  future,  and  the  past. 


158  SEVEN   WONDERS   OF  THE   WORLD. 

Sweet,  inexhaustible,  from  every  mouth 

That  voice  flows  on :  the  palaces  of  him 

Who  hurleth  the  loud  thunder,  laugh  with  sounds 

Scatter'd  from  lilied  breath  of  goddesses  ; 

Olympus  echoes  from  its  snow-topp'd  heads, 

The  dwellings  of  immortals.    They  send  forth 

The'  imperishable  voice,  and  in  their  song 

Praise  first  the  venerable  race  of  gods, 

From  the  beginning,  whom  the  spacious  heaven 

And  earth  produced,  and  gods  who  sprang  from  these 

Givers  of  blessings :  then  again  to  Jove, 

Father  of  gods  and  men,  those  goddesses 

Give  praise,  or  when  they  lift  the  choral  hymn, 

Or  when  surcease ;  how  excellent  he  is 

Above  all  gods,  and  mightiest  in  his  power. 

Once  more,  recording  in  their  strain  the  race 

Of  men  and  giants  strong,  they  soothe  the  soul 

Of  Jupiter  in  heaven. 

He  in  heaven 
Reigns :  the  red  lightning  and  the  bolt  are  his ; 
Since  by  the  strong  ascendent  of  his  arm 
Saturn  his  father  fell :  hence  Jove  to  all 
Disposes  all  things ;  to  the  immortal  gods 
Ordering  their  honors. 

The  etymology  of  the  name  leads  us  to  the  conclu- 
sion of  its  elementary  origin,  as  Jupiter  was  origin- 
ally Jovis  Pater  or  Dies  pater  or  Diu-pater,  the 
Diu  becoming  softened  into  Ju,  as  dimmed  has 
become  journal.  Jupiter  or  Diu-pater  would  there- 
fore mean,  the  father  of  the  day  or  the  air.  This  is 
also  probably  the  meaning  of  the  Greek  Zeus,  which 
some  contend  is  the  same  both  in  meaning  and  ety- 
mology as  Deus.  There  is  also  a  striking  similarity 
between  the  word  Jovis  and  the  Hebrew  name  of 
the  supreme  deity  (rttP).  Thus  the  name  Jupiter 
we  may  fairly  assume  to  be,  according  to  all  prob- 
ability, the  Zevg  7ra-n)p  of  the  Greeks,  latinized  by 
those  natives  of  southern  Italy  who  wrote  in  the 


STATUE   OF  JUPITER   OLYMPIUS.  159 

Latin  language.  The  original  word  as  given  by 
Ennius  is  Jovis,  or  by  Varro,  Diovis.  As  Yarro, 
however,  speaks  of  three  hundred  gods  of  this  name, 
it  is  most  likely  that  Diovis,  like  Deus  or  Dis, 
originally  signified  God. 

The  Indian  god  of  the  visible  heavens  is  called 
Indra,  or  the  king,  and  Divespiter,  Lord  of  the  Sky. 
He  is  the  god  of  thunder  and  the  five  elements,  and 
lias  inferior  genii  under  his  command. 

Of  the  life  and  progeny  of  Jupiter  it  is  not  neces- 
sary here  to  offer  notice,  as  a  metaphor,  that  fruit- 
ful mother  of  fable,  was  most  probably  the  origin 
of  much  of  his  history.  A  bard,  to  exalt  the  fame  of 
the  chief  whose  praises  he  sang,  called  him  Jove- 
descended,  or  Zeus-sprung,  in  the  oriental  style, 
which  exalts  by  connecting  the  individual  with  the 
name  of  the  divinity ; — soon  the  metaphor  was 
taken  literally,  and  a  legend  invented  to  unite  the 
god  with  the  ancestry  of  the  object  celebrated. 

The  principal  Jupiter  of  Italy  was  the  Capitoline, 
or  the  Jupiter  Optimus  Maximus,  whose  temple,  with 
those  of  Juno  and  Minerva,  adorned  the  Capitol  in 
Rome,  and  who  was  regarded  as  the  great  guardian 
of  the  fortune  of  the  city.  There  were  other  appella- 
tions under  which  Jupiter  was  worshiped  among 
the  Italian  nations ;  such  as  Stator,  Yictor,  Pistor, 
Latiaris,  Anxur,  Feretrius,  and  Elicius :  and  from 
the  Fragments  of  Ennius,  it  is  evident  that  the  Ro- 
mans, in  his  time,  called  the  god  who  ruled  over 
the  atmosphere  and  caused  its  phenomena,  Jovis. 

The  most  famous  temple  to  this  deity  was  at 
Olympia,  in  Elis ;  but  his  worship  was  widely  diffused 
throughout  Greece,  all  of  whose  inhabitants  united 
in  the  duty  of  doing  homage  to  the  sovereign  of  all 


160  SEVEN   WONDERS   OF   THE   WORLD. 

the  gods.  His  great  oracle  was  amid  the  oak  woods 
of  Dodona,  where,  even  in  the  Pelasgian  period,  his 
priests  announced  his  will  and  futurity. 

He  was  represented  by  artists  of  Greece  as  the 
model  of  dignity  and  majesty  of  mien;  his  counte- 
nance grave,  but  mild.  He  is  seated  on  a  throne, 
with  the  scepter  in  his  hand :  the  eagle,  his  favorite 
bird,  is  sometimes  standing  by  the  throne,  and  some- 
times surmounting  the  scepter. 

In  the  Townley  collection  in  the  British  Museum 
there  is  a  head  of  Jupiter,  which  represents  him  as 
middle-aged,  with  a  most  beautiful  expression  of 
mild  and  placid  benignity  in  the  features ;  the  hair 
is  arranged  in  thick,  matted  curls,  which  fall  down 
to  the  neck  behind,  and  mingle  in  front  with  the 
smaller  curls  of  the  beard.  It  is  manifestly  a  frag- 
ment of  a  statue  of  most  excellent  sculpture,  and  of 
an  early  period  of  art,  apparently  of  the  age  of  Scopas 
or  Polycretes,  who  flourished  about  the  fifth  century 
before  the  Christian  era.  The  surface  of  the  bust  is 
in  good  preservation,  and  of  Pentelic  marble,  which 
is  beautifully  clear  and  white. 

The  fable  of  Jupiter  is  to  be  explained  by  the 
history  of  an  ancient  monarch,  or  rather  by  that  of 
several  princes  who  bore  this  appellation,  the  best- 
known  of  whom  was  a  king  of  Crete,  whose  history 
is  filled  with  the  adventures  of  the  rest.  Jupiter  of 
Crete,  having  banished  from  that  island  his  father 
Saturn,  and  overthrown  the  powerful  race  of  giants, 
determined  to  devote  his  attention  to  the  happiness 
of  his  subjects.  In  course  of  time  he  extended  his 
dominion,  and  became  possessed  of  a  vast  empire, 
which  he  divided  into  tributary  kingdoms :  thus, 
Atlas  governed  the  frontiers  of  Africa ;  Pluto,  the 


STATUE   OF   JUPITER   OLYMPIUS.  161 

west  of  Gaul ;  and  Mercury,  Spain ;  and  greatly 
signalizing  himself,  he  afterward  became  the  great 
deity  of  the  Celts.  To  Neptune  was  committed  the 
government  of  the  maritime  forces  of  this  mighty  em- 
pire. Jupiter  reserved  for  his  own  control,  Greece, 
and  the  isles  of  the  Archipelago,  together  with  part 
of  Asia.  He  is  said  to  have  been  married  seven 
times,  and  the  last  of  his  wives  was  Juno.  He  lived 
to  the  age  of  one  hundred  and  twenty  years,  during 
sixty-two  of  which  he  reigned,  and  was  buried  near 
Gnossus,  in  Crete,  where  his  tomb  was  for  a  long 
time  shown,  with  this  epitaph, — "Here  lies  Zan, 
who  was  called  Jupiter."  This  explanation,  derived 
from  Cretan  tradition,  was  by  some  said  to  be  vision- 
ary, and  that  the  mendacity  of  the  people  was  so 
notorious  as  to  render  any  statement  made  by  them 
as  unworthy  of  belief.  But  to  this  it  may  be  answer- 
ed, that  the  advocates  and  supporters  of  the  pagan 
system  would  naturally  see,  that  if  any  faith  was 
placed  upon  the  Cretan  affirmation  of  the  mortal 
reign  of  Jupiter,  and  the  exhibition  of  the  tomb 
where  the  remains  of  this  deified  being  reposed,  a 
great  scandal  would  arise  among  true  believers. 

Idolatry,  or  the  superstitious  worship  paid  to  idols 
and  false  gods,  in  the  opinion  of  most  writers  had 
for  its  first  objects  the  sun,  moon,  and  stars. 

The  order,  the  regularity,  and  the  beauty  of  the 
ordinances  of  the  heavens,  have  been  at  all  times 
subjects  of  gratulation  and  wonder.  Whether  men 
were  rude  or  refined,  in  a  social  or  a  savage  state, 
they  felt  the  importance  inseparable  from  the  seasons 
of  the  year,  and  gradually  associated  in  their  minds 
the  periodical  returns  of  those  luminaries  which  at 
first  announced  the  returns  of  the  seasons,  and  at 


162  SEVEN   W0NDEKS   OF  THE   WORLD. 

length  were  supposed  to  exert  an  influence  over 
them.  The  sun  and  the  moon  were,  indisputably, 
the  two  greater  lights  of  heaven ;  to  these  the  most 
powerful  influences  were  ascribed,  and  the  most 
important  obligations  universally  acknowledged. 
They  led  on  the  year  and  the  months,  with  their 
respective  productions ;  they  afforded  means  of  calcu- 
lating time,  and  of  defining  periods ;  and,  eventually, 
they  contributed  to  the  formation  of  systems,  and  to 
extensive  combinations  of  numbers  into  multiples, 
progressions,  and  series.  But  in  addition  to  these 
principles,  known  to  us  all  as  the  sources  of  light, 
the  heavens  presented,  to  the  observant  and  intelli- 
gent, various  minor  luminaries,  the  periods  of  which 
were  not  only  incommensurate  among  themselves, 
but  required  long-continued  investigation  of  their 
appearances,  to  obtain  materials  for  the  theory  of 
their  orbits  and  motions.  It  had  been  well  had 
mankind  stopped  here;  but,  having  acquired  an 
elementary  knowledge  of  the  heavenly  bodies  and 
their  circuits,  the  misplaced  gratitude  of  some,  and 
the  pious  credulity  of  others,  attributed  to  them  of- 
fices for  which  their  Creator  never  designed  them, 
and  consequently  never  prepared  them.  The  smallest 
spark  of  rationality  too  powerfully  illuminates  the 
human  breast,  to  allow  its  possessor  to  conceive  of 
the  Great  Supreme,  other  than  as  a  Spirit  of  in- 
comprehensible attributes  and  infinite  wisdom  and 
powers ;  a  portion  of  which  he  at  pleasure  delegates 
to  the  emanations  of  his  creative  Jiat,  and  which  in 
fact  he  has  in  some  degree  delegated  to  man,  as  a 
rational  creature ;  and  to  beings  much  superior,  in 
degrees  proportionately  higher.  And  where  should 
the  imagination  of  man  establish  these  superior 


STATUE  OF    JUPITER   OLYMPIUS.  163 

beings,  if  not  in  these  celestial  bodies,  the  aspects  of 
which  were  deemed  propitious,  or  were  thought  to 
be  detrimental,  beyond  the  interference  of  mortals, 
or  the  ken  of  inhabitants  of  earth  ?  It  was,  then, 
from  attributing  to  the  heavenly  bodies  the  office 
of  mediators  between  man  and  the  Supreme  Deity 
that  idolatry  took  its  rise.  It  was  from  entreaties 
addressed  to  the  circulating  orbs  of  our  system,  from 
solicitations  beseeching  their  favorable  acceptance 
and  report,  of  worship  intended  to  be  conciliatory, 
as  it  respected  themselves,  and  intended  to  be  most 
profoundly  reverential  as  it  respected  the  Self-ex- 
istent, the  first  Cause  and  last  End  of  being : — who 
was  indeed  the  only  proper  object  of  adoration,  but 
who  was  supposed  to  be  too  high,  too  exalted,  to  be 
approached,  immediately,  by  feeble  man. 

Such  was  the  state  of  things  when  the  sacred  pen- 
man composed  his  history  of  the  creation,  in  which 
he  describes,  in  direct  terms,  the  origin  and  the  offices 
of  the  sun  and  the  moon,  but  confines  his  account  of 
other  celestial  bodies  to  a  single  phrase, — "  he  made 
the  stars  also."  It  was  not  because  Moses  was  ig- 
norant  of  the  importance  attached  to  the  stars  that 
he  studied  this  brevity ;  it  was  because  he  knew  it  too 
well,  and  had  too  sensibly  felt  its  evil  consequences, 
in  the  course  of  his  own  life,  and  had  seen  them  too 
extensively  prevalent,  to  the  great  injury  of  the  world 
at  large,  and  to  the  no  small  crimination  of  that  pecu- 
liar people  over  which  he  had  now  the  charge.  This 
argument  acquires  additional  strength  on  a  reference 
to  the  original  text ;  for  the  fact  is,  that  the  stars  are 
not  spoken  of,  except  as  being  placed  under  the  power 
or  influence  of  the  two  greater  lights :  "  And  God 
made  two  great  lights ;  the  greater  light  to  rule  the 


164:  SEVEN   WONDERS   OF   THE   WORLD. 

day,  and  the  lesser  light  to  rule  the  night :  the  stars 
also."  Gen.  i,  16. 

The  beginnings  of  all  arts  and  of  all  practices  are 
extremely  simple;  and  it  is  impossible,  from  the 
simple  beginnings  of  practices  founded  on  a  mere 
mental  idea,  so  much  as  to  conjecture  in  what  they 
may  issue,  when  the  ingenuity  of  man  has  refined 
upon  them,  and  they  have  been  the  study  of  suc- 
cessive generations.  To  suppose  that  every  star, 
and  especially  every  revolving  planet,  was  animated 
by  a  resident  angel  peculiar  to  itself,  was  doubtless 
accepted  as  the  happy  thought  of  a  mind  deeply  im- 
bued with  the  learning  of  the  age,  with  astronomical 
knowledge  in  more  than  usual  proportion ;  and  per- 
haps favored  by  some  superior  power  with  a  revela- 
tion, by  which  it  was  enabled  to  penetrate  into  mys- 
teries "  far  beyond  this  visible  diurnal  sphere."  Nor 
less  felicitous  and  convenient  was  the  formation  of  a 
symbolical  representation  of  a  star ;  it  required  no 
skill ;  a  mere  effort  of  the  hand  was  sufficient  to  exe- 
cute the  design ;  and  the  model  once  obtained,  the 
idol  was  constantly  before  the  eye  of  the  worshiper, 
whether  the  original  were  above  or  below  the  horizon. 
And  yet,  in  these  rude  efforts  originated  that  idolatry 
which  eventually,  like  a  flood,  overwhelmed  the 
whole  human  race ;  to  which  the  sacred  books,  though 
standing  in  direct  opposition,  bear  but  too  striking 
witness,  and  which  to  this  day  retains  its  tyranny  in 
some  of  its  most  odious  and  destructive  forms.  For 
the  issue  proved,  that  when  the  stars  and  the  planets 
were  once  named,  their  idols  were  named  after  them ; 
that  when  their  idols  were  formed,  they  gradually 
assumed  the  personal  figure  of  those  intelligences 
whose  names  they  bore,  and  of  which  they  became 


STATUE   OF   JUPITER   OLYMPIUS.  165 

the  human  representatives.  Hence  gods  and  god- 
desses of  every  description  and  attribute ;  until  at 
length  their  numbers  became  incalculable,  and  their 
characters  flagitious,  and  "darkness  covered  the 
earth,  and  gross  darkness  the  people." 

Ammon,  or  Amun,  was  the  name  of  an  Egyptian 
deity,  whom  the  Greeks  considered  as  synonymous 
with  their  Zeus,  and  was  by  the  Romans  termed 
Jupiter  Ammon.  He  is  represented  on  the  monu- 
ments of  Egypt,  and  various  other  works  of  Egyp- 
tian art,  with  a  ram's  head  and  human  body ;  about 
which  Herodotus  tells  us  an  odd  story,  picked  up 
during  his  travels  in  Egypt : — 

"Hercules  was  exceedingly  anxious  to  have  a 
sight  of  Zeus,  but  Zeus  did  not  feel  inclined  to  show 
himself.  At  last,  Hercules  being  very  importunate, 
Zeus  hit  on  the  following  contrivance :  he  flayed  a 
ram,  and  cutting  off  the  head,  put  it  before  his  face ; 
he  then  got  into  the  skin,  and  in  this  guise  showed 
himself  to  Hercules.  From  this  circumstance  the 
Egyptians  represent  Zeus  with  a  ram's  head." 

The  worship  of  Ammon  was  not  common  to  all 
the  Egyptians ;  it  would  seem  to  have  been  specially 
of  Ethiopic  origin.  The  two  chief  temples  that  now 
exist  are  that  at  Karnak,  on  the  east  side  of  the  Nile, 
forming  part  of  the  extensive  ruins  of  Thebes ;  and 
that  of  Siwah,  in  the  Libyan  desert,  known  to  the 
Greeks  by  the  name  of  Ammonium.  The  name  of 
the  city  of  Thebes  was  changed  by  the  Greeks  to 
Diospolis  Magna,  that  is,  the  great  city  of  Jove. 

Excepting  only  the  Pyramids,  the  most  ancient 
remains  now  existing  are  uncmestionably  in  the  great 
Temple  of  Karnak,  the  largest  and  most  splendid  ruin 
of  which  perhaps  any  age  can  boast;  but  it  was  the 


166  SEVEN    WONDERS   OF   THE   WORLD. 

work  of  successive  monarchs,  each  of  whom  was 
anxious  to  surpass  his  predecessor. 

Sir  Gardner  Wilkinson  is  of  opinion  that  no  part 
of  the  earliest  foundation  of  the  temple  remains,  but 
of  what  does  exist,  a  portion  was  erected  by  Osirtesen, 
the  cotemporary  of  Joseph,  and  therefore  dates  about 
thirty-six  centuries. 

The  remains  of  Karnak  lie  north-east  of  Luxor, 
about  two  thousand  five  hundred  feet  from  the 
banks  of  the  river,  the  principal  part  on  an  artificial 
elevation,  surrounded  by  a  wall  of  unburned  bricks, 
about  five  thousand  three  hundred  yards  in  circuit. 
It  is  impossible,  without  a  plan  on  a  large  scale,  to 
give  any  adequate  idea  of  the  extent  of  these  remains. 
They  consist  of  several  buildings,  the  largest  of  which, 
by  some  called  a  palace  and  by  others  a  temple,  is  con- 
tained within  the  spacious  in  closure  just  mentioned, 
which  was  extensive  enough  to  hold  also  a  large  tank, 
that  was  cased  with  stone,  and  had  a  flight  of  steps 
leading  down  to  it.  The  chief  front  (the  western)  is 
turned  to  the  Nile,  with  which  it  was  connected  by  an 
alley  of  colossal  crio-sphinxes ;  and  at  the  termination 
there  was  probably  a  flight  of  steps  leading  down  to 
the  banks  of  the  river.  The  axis  of  each  part  of  this 
temple  lies  in  the  same  direction,  which  is  forty- 
nine  degrees  west  of  the  magnetic  pole. 

Here  the  devotee  would  land,  who  came  from  a  dis- 
tance to  the  shrine  of  Amnion,  and  with  amazement 
and  a  feeling  of  religious  awe  would  he  slowly  walk 
along  between  the  majestic  and  tranquil  sphinxes  to 
the  still  more  magnificent  propyla  of  the  building. 
This  colossal  entrance  is  about  three  hundred  and 
sixty  feet  long  and  one  hundred  and  forty-eight 
high,  but  without  sculptures ;  the  great  door  in  the 


STATUE   OF   JUPITER   OLYMPIUS.  167 

middle  is  sixty-four  feet  in  height.  Passing  through 
this  doorway,  he  would  enter  a  large  court,  occupied 
by  a  range  of  pillars  on  the  north  and  south  sides,  and 
a  double  row  of  taller  pillars  running  down  the  mid- 
dle. It  is  rather  curious  that  on  the  south  side  of  this 
court  another  building  of  smaller  dimensions  projects 
some  distance  into  it ;  which  was  either  a  subordi- 
nate part  of  the  larger  temple,  or,  if  we  consider  the 
great  building  to  be  a  palace,  this  appendage  must 
be  considered  as  a  temple  attached  to  it.  The  pil- 
lars in  the  middle  of  the  entrance-court  terminate 
opposite  to  two  colossal  statues  in  front  of  a  second 
propylon,  one  of  which  is  still  standing  in  tolerable 
preservation.  It  is  a  figure  with  one  foot  a  little  in 
advance  of  the  other.  The  whole  is  made  of  a  sin- 
gle block,  through  which,  after  ascending  a  flight  of 
twenty-seven  steps,  we  come  to  a  large  hall,  which 
has  had  a  flat  stone  roof.  This  is  the  great  hypostyle 
hall  of  Karnak,  which  is  supported  by  one  hundred 
and  thirty-four  colossal  pillars ;  there  being  sixteen 
columns  running  across  the  breadth  of  the  building, 
in  nine  parallel  rows,  which,  however,  as  we  shall 
presently  explain,  offer  some  irregularities. 

The  adytum  itself  consists  of  three  apartments -en- 
tirely of  granite.  The  principal  room,  which  is  in 
the  center,  is  twenty  feet  long,  sixteen  wide,  and 
thirteen  feet  high.  Three  blocks  of  granite  form 
the  roof,  which  is  painted  with  clusters  of  gilt  stars 
on  a  blue  ground.  The  walls  are  likewise  covered 
with  painted  sculptures  of  a  character  admirably 
adapted  to  the  mysterious  purposes  mentioned  by 
Herodotus,  on  the  subject  of  the  virgins  wTho  were 
there  introduced  to  the  Theban  Jupiter.     Beyond 

this  are  other  porticoes  and  galleries,  which  have 

11 


168    SEVEN  WONDERS  OF  THE  WORLD. 

been  continued  to  another  propylon  at  the  distance 
of  two  thousand  feet  from  that  at  the  western  ex- 
tremity of  the  temple. 

This  temple  seems  in  fact  .to  have  had  some  re- 
semblance in  its  plan  to  the  great  temple  of  Mem- 
phis, which  had  four  principal  propyla,  turned  re- 
spectively to  the  four  cardinal  points.  The  western 
entrance  of  Karnak  faced  the  river;  opposite  to  this 
at  the  eastern  end  was  another  propylon,  which  Mr. 
Hamilton  describes  as  being  two  thousand  feet  dis- 
tant from  that  first  mentioned ;  and  again  another 
set  of  propyla  (four  in  the  French  plan,  all  of  which 
had  colossi  in  front  of  them)  on  the  southern  side 
formed  the  approach  from  Luxor.  We  may  con- 
jecture that  another  similar  approach  on  the  north- 
ern side  would  perhaps  have  been  made,  had  the 
native  monarchs  continued  to  reign  at  Thebes. 

The  great  hall  has  a  double  row  of  larger  pillars, 
twelve  in  number,  running  down  the  center.  Owing 
to  the  projection  of  a  doorway  or  entrance  from  the 
court  which  succeeds  the  hypostyle  hall,  there  are 
two  pillars  cut  off  on  each  side,  from  the  rows  of 
smaller  pillars  which  are  next  to  the  larger  ones. 
This  reduces  the  whole  number  to  one  hundred  and 
thirty-four,  which  would  be  one  hundred  and  forty- 
four,  if  all  the  pillars  were  of  the  same  size,  and  if 
there  were  no  irregularity  in  the  two  rows  nearest 
the  center  rows  on  each  side.  The  width  of  this 
magnificent  hall  is  about  three  hundred  and  thirty- 
eight  feet,  and  the  length  or  depth  (measured  in  the 
direction  of  the  axis  of  the  building)  one  hundred 
and  seventy  feet.  It  is  remarkable  that  the  great 
courts  and  chambers  in  some  of  the  oldest  Egyptian 
buildings,   such  »as   Medinet-Abou   and   the   tomb 


STATUE   OF  JUPITER  OLYMPIU8.  169 

of  Osymandyas,  have  their  width  greater  than 
their  length :  the  entrance,  in  fact,  is  in  the  center 
of  the  longest  side ;  and  this  apparently  must  have 
been  part  of  the  architect's  design.  In  the  small 
chambers,  however,  such  as  the  sanctuary,  we  be- 
lieve the  case  is  nearly  always  the  reverse ;  and  also 
in  the  great  courts  of  the  palace  of  Luxor,  in  that 
of  Edfou,  and  other  temples.  The  area  of  this  pro- 
digious hall  is  fifty-seven  thousand  six  hundred 
and  twenty-nine  square  feet,  on  which  stand  the  one 
hundred  and  thirty-four  columns,  the  largest  near 
eleven  feet  in  diameter,  once  supporting  a  roof  of 
enormous  slabs  of  stone.  Words  are  inadequate  to 
express  the  grandeur  of  conception  exhibited  in  this 
design.  Champollion's  expression,  though  often 
quoted,  is  worth  quoting  again,  as  it  conveys  the 
full  force  of  a  powerful  impression : — "  The  imag- 
ination, which  in  Europe  rises  far  above  our  porti- 
coes, sinks  abashed  at  the  foot  of  the  one  hundred 
and  forty  columns  of  the  hypostyle  hall  of  Karnak." 

But  we  shall  form  a  more  exact  idea  of  this  enor- 
mous work  by  comparing  it  with  some  standard  of 
which  we  can  judge.  The  church  of  St.  Martin's 
in  the  Fields,  one  of  the  finest  and  largest  of  modern 
religious  edifices  in  London,  is  one  hundred  and 
thirty-seven  feet  long  and  eighty-one  feet  wide, 
measured  along  the  outside  basement,  not  including 
the  steps  and  portico.  This  will  give  an  area  of 
nearly  eleven  thousand  one  hundred  and  fifty  square 
feet,  which  is  not  so  much  as  one-fifth  part  of  the 
great  hall  of  Karnak. 

Or  we  may  consider  the  matter  in  the  following 
way.  The  width  of  the  hall  of  Karnak  is  more  than 
four  times  that  of  the  front  of  St,  Martin's  church, 


170  SEVEN   WONDEKS   OF   THE  WORLD. 

while  the  depth  of  the  former  exceeds  the  length  of 
the  latter  by  more  than  thirty-two  feet.  Therefore 
four  such  churches  as  St.  Martin's  might  stand  side 
by  side  on  the  area  of  this  hall,  without  occupying 
the  whole  space.  In  forming  this  calculation  the 
outer  measurements  of  St.  Martin's  church  have 
been  taken,  and  the  interior  measure  of  the  great 
hall  of  Karnak.  But  the  great  hall  itself  is  not  more 
than  one-seventh  of  the  whole  area  inclosed  by  the 
walls  of  the  great  temple. 

The  two  rows  of  columns  down  the  middle  are 
larger  than  the  rest,  and  were  designed  to  support 
the  highest  part  of  the  roof,  in  the  vertical  sides  of 
which  small  window-lights  are  cut.  Both  the  pil- 
lars, walls,  and  propyla  of  this  magnificent  colon- 
nade are  completely  covered  with  sculptured  forms 
of  deities.  On  the  outside  of  this  part  of  the  temple 
two  immense  boats  are  sculptured;  one  of  them, 
which  is  fifty-one  feet  long,  has  the  head  of  a  ram  at 
each  end.  Another  boat,  forty-five  feet  in  length, 
is  full  of  people,  who  are  pushing  it  along  with 
poles.  In  the  French  work  on  the  antiquities  of 
Egypt,  two  such  boats  are  represented ;  but  here 
the  people  in  the  first  boat  are  pulling  along  the 
second  boat,  which  is  that  of  Amnion. 

At  this  part  of  the  building,  where  the  grand  hall 
terminates,  the  great  passage  from  the  temple  of 
Luxor,  after  having  made  two  deviations  from  the 
main  line,  strikes  in,  by  which  the  sacred  processions 
would  arrive  from  the  last-mentioned  place  through 
the  long  avenues  of  sphinxes  and  under  four  suc- 
cessive propyla  to  the  great  temple  of  Karnak.  Here, 
also,  near  the  center  of  this  magnificent  building, 
are  three  noble  obelisks  about  seventy  feet  high, 


STATUE   OF  JUPITEK   OLYMPIUS.  171 

and  nine  square  at  the  base ;  a  fourth  obelisk  is  ly- 
ing on  the  ground  cut  into  two  pieces.  Near  these 
obelisks  are  some  small  chambers,  which  either  con- 
tained the  adytum,  or  were  set  apart  for  the  use  of 
the  priests.  We  may  infer  from  this  position  of 
these  two  smaller  obelisks  that  the  place  which  they 
occupy  was  once  the  front  of  the  building,  and  that 
the  great  hypostyle  chamber,  and  all  that  is  before 
it,  are  the  additions  of  a  later  period.  Indeed,  this 
seems  confirmed  by  the  appearance  of  the  great  en- 
trance turned  toward  the  river,  which  looks  as  if  it 
had  never  been  finished.  In  this  building  also,  as 
at  Luxor,  there  are  internal  proofs  of  its  being  built 
at  different  eras.  Many  of  the  gateways  (those  on 
the  south  side)  form  different  angles  with  one  an- 
other, and  with  the  walls  of  the  temple :  in  some 
places  blocks  of  stone  are  used,  covered  with  in- 
verted hieroglyphics,  and  some  of  the  principal 
sculptures  are  concealed  behind  a  projecting  gate- 
way. Another  instance  of  the  dislike  of  symmetry 
of  the  architects  of  ancient  Egypt  is  visible  in  the 
difference  in  the  spaces  between  the  sphinxes  and 
crio-sphinxes,  and  in  the  sizes  of  these  statues,  which 
vary  from  twelve  to  seventeen  feet  in  length,  as  they 
form  the  several  avenues  which  lead  to  the  body  of 
the  building. 

The  great  hall  of  Karnak  is  in  its  kind  a  speci- 
men of  architecture  equally  calculated  to  excite  our 
admiration.  But  words  are  inadequate  to  convey 
any  idea  of  the  extent  of  the  remains  of  this  won- 
derful place.  Besides  the  great  palace  with  its  prop- 
yla,  obelisks,  and  avenues  of  colossal  sphinxes, 
there  are  magnificent  temples  to  the  north  and  south 
of  it,  altogether  forming  an  assemblage  of  remains 


172  SEVEN   WONDEKS    OF   THE   WOULD. 

such  as  perhaps  no  other  spot  on  earth  can  oner. 
What  Thebes  must  have  been  in  all  its  glory,-  before 
commerce  deserted  its  temples  for  the  sanctuaries 
of  Memphis,  and  foreign  conquest  laid  waste  its 
palaces,  it  is  impossible  to  conceive. 

A  modern  traveler  eloquently  describes  the  im- 
pressions conveyed  to  his  mind  by  the  appearance 
of  these  vast  ruins. 

Two  or  three  stragglers  who  came  ■  down  to  the 
bank  to  gaze  at  us,  were  the  only  living  beings  we 
beheld  in  a  city  which  had  numbered  its  millions. 
When  Greece  was  just  emerging  from  the  shades 
of  barbarism,  and  before  the  name  of  Rome  was 
known,  Egypt  was  far  advanced  in  science  and  the 
arts,  and  Thebes  the  most  magnificent  city  in  the 
world.  But  the  Assyrian  came,  and  overthrew  for- 
ever the  throne  of  the  Pharaohs.  The  Persian  war- 
cry  rang  through  the  crowded  streets  of  Thebes, 
Cambyses  laid  his  destroying  hands  upon  the  temples 
of  its  gods,  and  a  greater  than  Babylon  the  Great 
fell  to  rise  no  more. 

The  ancient  valley  was  twenty-three  miles  in 
circumference.  The  valley  of  the  Nile  was  not 
large  enough  to  contain  it,  and  its  extremities  rested 
upon  the  bases  of  the  mountains  of  Arabia  and 
Africa.  The  whole  of  this  great  extent  is  more  or 
less  strewed  with  ruins,  broken  columns,  and  avenues 
of  sphinxes,  colossal  figures,  obelisks,  pyramidal 
gateways,  porticoes,  blocks  of  polished  granite,  and 
stones  of  extraordinary  magnitude,  while  above 
them,  "in  all  the  nakedness  of  desolation,"  the 
colossal  skeletons  of  giant  temples  are  standing  in 
the  unwatered  sands,  in  solitude  and  silence.  Thev 
are  neither  gray  nor  blackened ;  there  is  no  lichen, 


STATUE   OF  JUPITER   OLYMPIUS.  173 

no  moss,  no  rank  grass  or  mantling  ivy,  to  robe 
them  and  conceal  their  deformities.  Like  the  bones 
of  man,  they  seem  to  whiten  under  the  sun  of  the 
desert.  The  sand  of  Africa  has  been  their  most 
fearful  enemy;  blown  upon  them  for  more  than 
three  thousand  years,  it  has  buried  the  largest 
monuments,  and,  in  some  instances,  almost  entire 
temples. 

Great  and  magnificent  as  was  the  temple  of  Luxor, 
it  served  but  as  a  portal  to  the  greater  Karnak. 
Standing  nearly  two  miles  from  Luxor,  the  whole 
road  to  it  was  lined  with  rows  of  sphinxes,  each  of  a 
solid  block  of  granite.  At  this  end  they  are  broken, 
and,  for  the  most  part,  buried  under  the  sand  and 
heaps  of  rubbish.  But  approaching  Karnak  they 
stand  entire,  still  and  solemn  as  when  the  ancient 
Egyptian  passed  between  them  to  worship  in  the 
great  temple  of  Ammon.  Four  grand  propyla 
terminate  this  avenue  of  sphinxes,  and,  passing 
through  the  last,  the  scene  which  presents  itself 
defies  description.  Belzoni  remarks  of  the  ruins  of 
Thebes  generally,  that  he  felt  as  if  he  were  in  a  city 
of  giants ;  and  no  man  can  look  upon  the  ruins  of 
Karnak  without  feeling  humbled  by  the  greatness 
of  a  people  who  have  passed  away  forever.  The 
western  entrance,  facing  the  temple  of  Northern 
Dair  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  river,  also  ap- 
proached between  two  rows  of  sphinxes,  is  a  mag- 
nificent propylon  four  hundred  feet  long  and  forty 
feet  in  thickness.  In  the  language  of  Dr.  Richard- 
son,  "looking  forward  from  the  center  of  this  gate- 
way, the  vast  scene  of  havoc  and  destruction  pre- 
sents itself  in  all  the  extent  of  this  immense  temple, 
with  its  columns,  and  walls,  and  immense  propyla 


174  SEVEN    WONDERS   OF   THE   WOULD. 

all  prostrate  in  one  heap  of  ruins,  looking  as  if  the 
thunders  of  heaven  had  smitten  it  at  the  command 
of  an  insulted  God." 

Volume's  have  been  written,  and  volumes  may 
yet  be  written,  and  he  that  reads  all  will  still  have 
but  an  imperfect  idea  of  the  ruins  of  Thebes.  "We 
need  only  add,  that  all  these  temples  were  connected 
by  long  avenues  of  sphinxes,  statues,  propyla,  and 
colossal  figures,  and  the  reader's  imagination  will 
work  out  the  imposing  scene  that  was  presented  in 
the  crowded  streets  of  the  now  desolate  city,  when, 
with  all  the  gorgeous  ceremonies  of  pagan  idolatry, 
the  priests,  bearing  the  sacred  image  of  their  god, 
and  followed  by  thousands  of  the  citizens,  made 
their  annual  procession  from  temple  to  temple,  and 
"with  harps,  and  cymbals,  and  songs  of  rejoicing," 
brought  back  their  idol,  and  replaced  him  in  his 
shrine  in  the  grand  temple  at  Karnak. 

The  temple  dedicated  to  Jupiter  Amnion  was  in 
the  deserts  of  Libya,  twelve  days'  journey  from 
Memphis,  and  in  the  midst  of  a  beautiful  oasis. 
According  to  ancient  tradition,  it  had  a  famous 
oracle,  established  eighteen  centuries  B.  C. ;  the  rep- 
utation  of  it  was  destroyed  by  the  gross  flattery  of 
pronouncing  Alexander  to  be  the  son  of  Jupiter. 
In  a  valley  of  the  desert  there  is  a  vast  collection 
of  ruins,  which  appear  to  consist  of  eight  small 
temples,  connected  by  galleries  and  terraces:  the 
circuit  of  these  ruins  is  over  two  thousand  seven 
hundred  feet,  and  the  whole  is  surrounded  by  a 
double  inclosure ;  the  largest  temple  is  in  the  center. 
Though  these  ruins  are  extensive,  the  buildings  are 
on  a  small  scale;  the  greater  temple  being  only 
thirty-four  feet  in  length.     On  some  of  the  columns 


STATUE   OF  JUPITER   OLYMPIUS.  175 

are  figures  in  the  Egyptian  style,  and  in  the  same 
portico  others  are  fluted  in  the  Greek  fashion.  On 
the  base  of  one  is  the  remains  of  a  zodiac.  This  is 
conjectured  to  be  the  ancient  Ammonium,  the 
original  seat  of  the  oracle.  From  the  statements  of 
Diodorus  and  Herodotus,  these  temples  are  sup- 
posed to  have  been  chief  residences  of  the  powerful 
priest  caste  of  Meroe. 

Cambyses  having  overturned  Thebes,  after  rav- 
aging the  country,  divided  his  army,  and  one 
part  of  it  perished  by  famine ;  and  the  other  part 
was  sent  to  plunder  the  temple  of  Jupiter  Am- 
nion, and  was  overwhelmed  by  the  sands  of  the 
desert. 

Darwin  describes  this  event  in  some  of  the  sub- 
limest  language  in  his  glittering  poem : — • 

When  Heaven's  dread  justice  smites  in  crimes  o'ergrown 

The  blood-nursed  tyrant  on  his  purple  throne, 

Gnomes !  your  bold  forms  unnuniber'd  arms  outstretch, 

And  urge  the  vengeance  o'er  the  guilty  wretch. 

Thus  when  Cambyses  led  his  barbarous  hosts 

From  Persia's  rocks  to  Egypt's  trembling  coasts, 

Defiled  each  hallow'd  fane,  and  sacred  wood, 

And,  drunk  with  fury,  swell'd  the  Nile  with  blood ; 

Waved  his  proud  banner  o'er  the  Theban  states, 

And  pour'd  destruction  through  her  hundred  gates ; 

In  dread  divisions  march'd  the  marshal'd  bands, 

And  swarming  armies  blacken'd  all  the  lands, 

By  Memphis  these  to  Ethiop's  sultry  plains, 

And  those  to  Ammon's  sand-encircled  fanes. 

Slow  as  they  pass'd  the  indignant  temples  frown'd, 

Low  curses  muttering  from  the  vaulted  ground  ; 

Long  aisles  of  cypress  waved  their  deepen'd  glooms, 

And  quivering  specters  grinn'd  amid  the  tombs  ; 

Prophetic  whispers  breathed  from  Sphinx's  tongue, 

And  Memnon's  lyre  with  hollow  murmurs  rung ; 

Burst  from  each  pyramid  expiring  groans, 

And  darker  shadows  stretch'd  their  lengthen'd  cones : 


176    SEVEN  WONDERS  OF  THE  WORLD. 

Day  after  day  their  deathful  route  they  steer, 
Lust  in  the  van,  and  rapine  in  the  rear. 

Loud  o'er  the  camp  the  fiend  of  famine  shrieks, 
Calls  all  her  brood,  and  champs  her  hundred  beaks  ; 
O'er  ten  square  leagues  her  pennons  broad  expand, 
And  twilight  swims  upon  the  shuddering  sand ; 
Perch'd  on  her  crest  the  griffin  Discord  clings, 
And  giant  Murder  rides  between  her  wings ; 
Blood  from  each  clotted  hair,  and  horny  quill, 
And  showers  of  tears  in  blended  streams  distill ; 
High  poised  in  air  her  spiry  neck  she  bends, 
Rolls  her  keen  eye,  her  dragon-claws  extends, 
Darts  from  above,  and  tears  at  each  fell  swoop 
With  iron  fangs  the  decimated  troop. 

Now  o'er  their  head  the  whizzing  whirlwinds  breathe, 
And  the  live  desert  pants  and  heaves  beneath ; 
Tinged  by  the  crimson  sun,  vast  columns  rise 
Of  eddying  sands,  and  war  amid  the  skies, 
In  red  arcades  the  billowy  plain  surround, 
And  whirling  turrets  stalk  along  the  ground. 
Long  ranks  in  vain  their  shining  blades  extend, 
To  demon-gods  their  knees  unhallow'd  bend. 
Wheel  in  wide  circle,  form  in  hollow  square, 
And  now  they  front,  and  now  they  fly  the  war, 
Pierce  the  deaf  tempest  with  lamenting  cries, 
Press  their  parch'd  lips,  and  close  their  bloodshot  "eyes. 
Onward  resistless  rolls  the  infuriate  surge, 
Clouds  follow  clouds,  and  mountains  mountains  urge ; 
Wave  over  wave  the  driving  desert  swims, 
Bursts  o'er  their  heads,  inhumes  their  struggling  limbs ; 
Man  mounts  on  man,  on  camels  camels  rush, 
Hosts  march  o'er  hosts,  and  nations  nations  crush, — 
Wheeling  in  air  the  winged  islands  fall, 
And  one  great  earthy  ocean  covers  all ! — 
Then  ceased  the  storm, — Night  bow'd  his  Ethiop  brow 
To  Earth,  and  listen'd  to  the  groans  below, — 
Grim  horror  shook, — awhile  the  living  hill 
Heaved  with  convulsive  throes, — and  all  was  still ! 


Cjf*  <8mt  Cnnplc  af  fiatta  at 

(EjT|[*8tt8. 


The  mighty  hunter,  lifting  up  his  eyes 
Toward  the  crescent  moon,  with  grateful  heart 
Call'd  on  the  lovely  wand'rer  who  bestow'd 
That  timely  light,  to  share  his  joyous  sport : 
And  hence  a  beaming  goddess  with  her  nymphs, 
Across  the  lawn  and  through  the  darksome  grove 
(Not  unaccompanied  with  tuneful  notes 
By  echo  multiplied  from  rock  or  cave) 
Swept  in  the  storm  of  chase,  as  moon  and  stars 
Glance  rapidly  along  the  clouded  heaven, 
When  winds  are  blowing  strong. 

Wordsworth. 


CONTENTS, 


Ephesus. 

The  Temple. 

Bishop  Pococke's  Remarks. 

Vitruvius's  Descrdption. 

Diana — Artemis — Hecate. 

The  Temple  op  Diana  at  London. 

Early  Christian  Churches  were  all  erected  on  the 

site  of  Ancient  Heathen  Temples. 
Diana  as  depicted  in  Homer. 
Diana  as  Hecate  in  Hesiod. 

Ephesus  and  the  Temple  when  visited  by  St.  Paul. 
The  Incantations  performed  there. 
The  Fulfillment  of  Prophecy. 
Stephens's  Visit. 


THE   GREAT  TEMPLE  OF  DIANA  AT 
EPHESUS. 

As  arrow-joying  Artemis  along 

A  mountain  moves,  either  Taygetus  high, 

Or  Erymanthus,  in  the  chase  rejoiced 

Of  boars  and  nimble  deer ;  and  with  her  sport 

The  country-haunting  nymphs,  the  daughters  fair 

Of  iEgis-holding  Zeus,  while  Letojoys; 

O'er  all  she  high  her  head  and  forehead  holds, 

Easy  to  know,  though  beautiful  are  all. 

"  Great  is  Diana  of  the  Ephesians,"  was  the  apos- 
trophe of  the  people,  when  the  inspired  apostle  of 
our  Lord  first  preached  the  faith  of  Christianity  in 
the  metropolis  of  Asia.  This  city  held  the  preemi- 
nence over  all  others  in  which  the  goddess  was 
worshiped. 

Ephesus,  a  city  of  Asia  Minor,  thirty-eight  miles 
south-south-east  of  Smyrna,  was  anciently  one  of 
the  most  splendid  in  the  world.  When  speaking 
of  this  renowned  city,  the  Greek  writers  are  prodi- 
gal in  epithets  describing  its  glory  and  excellence. 
Strabo  tells  us  it  is  one  of  the  best  and  most  glorious 
cities,  and  the  great  emporium  of  Asia  Minor,  while 
another  distinguishes  it  as  one  of  the  "  eyes  "  of  Asia. 
Sic  transit  gloria  mundi!  a  few  unintelligible 
heaps  of  stones,  with  some  mud  cottages  untenanted, 
are  all  the  remains  of  the  great  city  of  the  Ephesians. 
Even  the  sea  has  retired  from  the  scene  of  desolation, 
and  a  pestilential  morass,  covered  "with  mud  and 


180  SEVEN   WONDERS    OF  THE  WORLD. 

rushes,  has  succeeded  to  the  waters  which  brought 
up  the  ships  laden  with  the  merchandise  of  every 
country.  We  are  told  that  some  hundred  and  fifty 
years  back,  a  few  Greek  peasants  harbored  among 
the  substructions  of  the  once  glorious  edifices  which 
their  renowned  forefathers  raised ;  but  now,  even 
these  miserable  representatives  of  the  ancient  Ephe- 
sians  have  disappeared;  and  the  malaria  has  in- 
creased to  such  a  degree,  that  the  ruins  can  hardly 
be  approached  with  safety  during  six  months  of  the 
year.  Part  of  the  plain  of  Ephesus  is,  however, 
under  cultivation,  for  the  plow  has  passed  over 
the  site  of  the  city,  and  the  green  corn  may  be  seen 
growing  among  the  forsaken  ruins.  The  laborers, 
however,  all  come  from  distant  villages.  Some 
ninety  years  back,  we  are  told  by  Chandler,  that 
the  few  peasants  were  living  in  extreme  wretched- 
ness and  insensibility,  representatives  of  an  illustrious 
people,  inhabiting  the  wreck  of  their  greatness, 
some  even  in  the  vaults  of  the  glorious  edifices,  and 
others  among  the  sepulchers  which  received  the 
ashes  of  their  great  progenitors. 

The  utter  desolation  and*  silence  are  indescribable : 
a  herd  of  goats  running  into  and  under  cover  of  the 
ruins  for  shelter  from  the  noon-day  sun ;  a  noisy 
flight  of  crows  from  the  marble  fragments  startles 
the  quietude ;  the  cry  of  the  partridge  and  the  quail 
alone  disturbs  the  repose  of  the  theater  and  the 
stadium.  The  glorious  pomp  of  its  heathen  worship 
is  no  longer  remembered  ;  and  Christianity,  which 
was  here  nursed  by  the  apostles,  and  fostered  by ' 
general  councils,  until  it  increased  to  fullness  of 
stature,  now  barely  lingers  on  an  existence  scarcely 
visible.     Nothing  more  is  required  to  establish  the 


TEMPLE   OF  DIANA   AT   EPUESUS,  181 

fulfillment  of  the  prophecy;  for  "the  candlestick"  is 
indeed  "removed  out  of  its  place,"  and  night  hangs 
over  Ephesus. 

In  the  general  calamities  of  mankind,  the  death 
of  an  individual,  however  exalted,  the  ruin  of  an 
edifice,  however  famous,  are  passed  over  with  care- 
less inattention.  Yet  we  cannot  forget  that  this 
celebrated  temple,  after  having  risen  with  increased 
splendor  from  several  repeated  misfortunes,  was 
finally  burned  by  the  Goths  in  their  third  naval  in- 
vasion. 

Mythology  assigns  as  the  founder  of  the  city, 
Ephesus,  the  son  of  Cresus,  a  native  of  the  soil; 
another  tradition  makes  it  to  have  been  settled  by 
the  Amazons,  who,  pursued  by  Hercules,  fled  to  an 
altar  erected  to  Diana  for  protection,  which  the 
goddess  granted.  Steabo  says,  that  the  first  settle- 
ment was  by  the  Carians  and  Leleges,  a  people  *of 
the  islands  on  the  coast  of  Asia  Minor.  The  origin- 
al object  of  worship  was  a  small  statue  of  Diana,  of 
ebony,  made  by  one  Canaitias,  though  commonly 
believed  in  those  days  to  have  been  sent  down  from. 
heaven  by  Jupiter.  It  was,  no  doubt,  an  Egyptian 
hieroglyphic.  A  temple  of  magnificent  structure 
was  erected  to  contain  this  image,  which  building 
was  completed  in  the  reign  of  Servius  Tullius,  570 
B.  C.  This  temple  is  said  to  have  been  destroyed 
by  fire. 

A  second  temple  was  commenced  about  540  B.  C, 
which  exceeded  the  first  in  splendor  in  as  great 
degree  as  that  did  every  other  building  in  the  world; 
and  again  this  was  partially  burned  on  the  day  on 
which  Socrates  was  poisoned,  400  B.  C.  It  is  said 
that  Xerxes,  the  Persian  king,  who  destroyed  the 


182         SEVEN   WONDERS   OF   THE   WORLD. 

idol  temples  wherever  he  came,  had  spared  this  on 
account  of  its  magnificence  and  splendor.  The 
temple  having  been  restored  with  yet  greater  grand- 
eur, it  was  again  fired  356  B.  C,  on  the  night  that 
Alexander  the  Great  was  born.  This  was  done  by 
Erastratus,  who  confessed  he  had  done  the  deed  to 
immortalize  his  name  by  the  destruction  of  this 
wonderful  building.  To  balk  him,  it  was  decreed 
his  name  should  never  be  mentioned;  but  such  a 
decree  served  only  to  make  his  name  more  memo- 
rable. Alexander  offered  to  rebuild  the  temple,  only 
on  condition  that  the  Ephesians  would  allow  his 
name  to  be  placed  in  front ;  but  this  offer  was  re- 
spectfully declined.  We  conclude  that  the  roof 
only  was  destroyed,  for  it  is  said  that  the  materials 
saved  from  the  fire  were  sold,  and  women  parted 
with  their  jewels,  and  other  contributions  were  sent 
most  liberally  from  all  parts  of  Asia,  which  in  a 
short  time  amounted  to  an  immense  treasure ;  and 
thus  the  splendid  pile  was  restored. 

The  temple  stood  between  the  city  and  the  port, 
and  was  built  at  the  base  of  a  mountain,  and  at  the 
head  of  a  marsh,  which  situation  is  said  by  Pliny  to 
have  been  chosen  as  less  liable  to  earthquakes.  This 
choice  of  site  had,  however,  the  effect  of  vastly  in- 
creasing the  expenses,  through  the  necessity  of 
making  vast  drains,  to  convey  the  water  that  came 
down  from  the  mountain  into  the  morass  and  river ; 
in  this  work  so  much  stone  was  used,  that  all  the 
quarries  of  the  country  were  exhausted.  "We  are 
told  by  Pliny,  that  to  secure  the  foundations  of  the 
conduits  and  sewers,  which  were'  to  support  the 
weight  of  so  prodigious  a  structure,  there  were  laid 
beds  of  charcoal,  well,  rammed ;  over  them  layers 


TEMPLE   OF   DIANA   AT   EPHESUS.  183 

of  wool ;  and  that  two  hundred  and  twenty  years 
elapsed  before  this  grand  temple  was  completed,  by 
the  contributions  of  all  the  cities  of  Asia.  It  was 
four  hundred  and  twenty-five  feet  in  length,  and 
two  hundred  and  twenty  in  breadth,  supported  by 
one  hundred  and  twenty-seven  marble  columns  of 
the  Ionic  order,  sixty-  feet  high,  of  which  thirty -six 
were  curiously  sculptured,  and  the  rest  highly  pol- 
ished. The  pillars  were  the  gifts  of  so  many  kings, 
and  the  bass-reliefs  on  one  of  them  were  wrought  by 
Scopas,  one  of  the  most  famous  of  ancient  sculptors ; 
the  altar  was  adorned  by  the  masterly  sculptures  of 
Praxiteles,  who  had,  perhaps,  selected  from  the 
favorite  legends  of  the  place,  the  birth  of  the  divine 
children  of  Latona,  the  concealment  of  Apollo,  after 
the  slaughter  of  the  Cyclops,  and  the  clemency  <  »f 
Bacchus  to  the  vanquished  Amazons.  The  first 
architect,  and  he  who  appears  to  have  •  planned  the 
whole  work,  was  Dinocrates,  who  built  the  city  of 
Alexandria,  and  who  offered  to  carve  Mount  Athos 
into  a  statue  of  Alexander.  According  to  Vitruvius, 
however,  the  architects  are  said  to  be,  Peonius  of 
Ephesus,  and  Daplmis  of  Miletus.  The  only  re- 
mains of  this  wonderful  temple,  are  three  entire 
columns  and  a  profusion  of  marble  fragments;  but 
these  are  amply  sufficient  to  indicate  its  former 
beauty  and  grandeur,  even  had  it  not  been  so  highly 
extolled  by  the  ancients. 

Bishop  Pi  icnoko,  who  visited  Asia  Minor  in  1736-7, 
thus  describes  the  remains  of  this  celebrated  building 
from  actual  observation. 

The  temple  was  situated  toward  the  south-west 

corner  of  the  plain,  having  a  lake  on  the  west  side, 

now  become  a  morass,  extending  westward  to  the 

12 


184  SEVEN   WONDEKS    OF   THE   WOULD. 

River  Cayster.  The  building  and  the  courts  about  it 
were  encompassed  every  way  with  a  strong  wall;  that 
to  the  west  of  the  lake  and  to  the  north  was  likewise 
the  wall  of  the  city ;  there  was  a  double  wall  to  the 
south.  Within  these  walls  were  four  courts, — that  is, 
one  on  every  side  of  the  temple ;  and  on  each  side  of 
the  court  to  the  west  there  was  a  large  open  portico, 
or  colonnade,  extending  to  the  lake,  on  which  arches 
of  bricks  were  turned  for  a  covering.  The  front  of 
the  temple  was  toward  the  east.  The  temple  was 
built  on  several  narrow  arches,  one  within  another, 
to  which  there  is  a  descent.  It  is  probable  these 
arches  extended  to  the  porticoes  on  each  side  of  the 
western  court,  and  served  for  foundations  for  the 
pillars.  The  site  being  a  morass,  made  the  expense 
of  such  a  foundation  necessary ;  so  that  it  is  said,  as 
much  cost  was  incurred  beneath,  as  on  the  fabric 
above  ground.  It  is  probable,  also,  that  the  sewers 
of  the  city  passed  this  way  into  the  lake.  There 
are  great  quantities  of  earthenware  pipes  in  the 
passages  beneath  the  arches. 

There  seems  to  have  been  in  the  east  front  of  the 
temple  a  grand  portico,  as  before  this  lay  three 
pieces  of  red  granite  pillars,  each  about  fifteen  feet 
in  length,  and  one  of  gray  granite  broken  in  two 
pieces. 

There  are  four  pillars  like  the  red  granite  ones  in 
the  mosque  of  St.  John,  at  the  village  of  Ajasalouk, 
also  a  fine  entablature,  and  on  one  of  the  columns  in 
the  mosque  is  a  most  beautiful  composite  capital, 
which,  without  doubt,  had  belonged  to  the  temple. 

There  are  vast  remains  of  pillars  -of  hewn  stone, 
upon  which  we  conclude  the  arches  were  turned. 
The  pillars,  as  well  as  the  entire  temple,  appear  to 

« 


§m 


^mr  m  'w;*^; 


'JB& 

TEMPLE    OF    DIANA. 


' 


^CO>   0»  TOT 

[TJHI7BB.SIT7J 


Xg£lFOT 


TEMPLE    OF   DIANA   AT   EPHESUS.  187 

have  been  cased  with,  marbles :  as  on  the  stone-work 
of  the  middle  grand  apartment  there  were  many 
small  orifices,  which  would  appear  to  have  been 
designed  in  order  to  fix  the  marble  casing. 

In  the  sixth  century  of  our  present  era  the  Emper- 
or Justinian  filled  Constantinople  with  the  statues, 
and  raised  the  Church  of  St.  Sophia  upon  the  columns 
of  this  once  magnificent  edifice. 

From  Vitruvius's  description  we  infer  that  the 
building  was  of  the  Ionic  order ;  but  the  fragments 
and  columns  now  among  the  ruins  are  described 
by  recent  travelers  as  of  the  Composite  order,  and 
this  is  in  some  measure  corroborated  by  ancient 
medals  which  have  representations  of  the  grand 
front. 

Magnificent  as  was  the  Temple  of  Diana,  its  length 
was  only  two-thirds  of  the  measure  of  St.  Peter's  at 
Rome.  In  the  other  dimensions  it  was  still  more 
inferior  to  that  sublime  production  of  modern  archi- 
tecture. The  spreading  arms  of  the  Christian  cross 
require  a  much  greater  breadth  than  the  oblong  tem- 
ples of  the  pagans ;  and  the  boldest  artists  of  antiquity 
would  have  been  startled  at  the  proposal  of  raising 
in  the  air  a  dome  of  the  size  and  proportions  of  the 
Pantheon.  The  Temple  of  Diana  was,  however, 
among  the  ancients  admired  as  one  of  the  wondrous 
buildings  of  the  world.  Successive  empires — the 
Persian,  the  Macedonian,  and  the  Roman — had 
revered  its  sanctity  and  enriched  its  splendor ;  but 
the  rude  savages  of  the  Baltic  were  destitute  of  a 
taste  for  the  elegant  arts,  and  they  despised  the  ideal 
terrors  of  a  foreign  superstition. 

The  ancient  pagan  idolatry  having  ceased,  the  mild 
worship  of  Jesus  followed.     Some  centuries  passed 


188         SEVEN    WONDERS   OF  THE   WORLD. 

on,  and  the  altars  of  the  true  and  living  God  were 
thrown  down,  to  make  way  for  the  delusions  of 
Mohamniecl ;  the  cross  is  removed  from  the  dome 
of  the  church,  and  the  crescent  glitters  in  its  stead, 
while,  within,  the  keble  is  substituted  for  the  altar. 
A  few  years  more,  and  all  is  silence  in  church  and 
mosque :  the  busy  hum  ,of  a  mighty  population  is 
silent  in  death !  "  Thy  riches  and  thy  fairs,  thy  mer- 
chandise, thy  mariners,  and  thy  pilots,  thy  caulkers, 
and  the  occupiers  of  thy  merchandise,  and  all  thy 
men  of  war,  are  fallen !" 

Of  the  three  Christian  churches  that  Ephesus 
could  at  one  time  boast,  that  of  St.  Paul's  is  wholly 
destroyed,  St.  Mark's  is  a  heap  of  ruins,  and  St. 
John's,  as  we  have  stated,  has  been  converted  into 
a  Turkish  mosque. 

The  Turkish  village  of  Ajasalouk,  or  the- Temple 
of  the  Moon,  is  the  nearest  to  the  ancient  city  of 
Ephesus. 

The  Diana  of  the  Romans,  or  Artemis  of  the 
Greeks,  was  a  celebrated  goddess  among  the  heathen, 
and  one  of  the  twelve  superior  deities.  Diana  we 
must  consider  to  have  been  primarily  the  moon,  and 
was  worshiped  under  divers  names  and  characters. 
According  to  Cicero,  there  were  three  of  this  name, 
— a  daughter  of  Jupiter  and  Latona,  a  daughter  of 
Jupiter  and  Proserpine,  and  a  daughter  of  TJpis  and 
Glauce.  The  first  is  the  most  celebrated,  and  to 
her  nearly  all  the  great  temples  were  devoted,  and 
all  the  ancient  writers  allude.  She  is  represented 
as  dedicated  to  perpetual  celibacy,  and  to  avoid  so- 
ciety devoted  herself  to  the  chase  and  other  manly 
sports,  and  was  always  accompamed  by  a  number 
of  chosen  virgins,  who,  like  herself,  had  abjured 


TEMPLE   OF  DIANA   AT   EPHESUS.  189 

marriage.  She  is  represented  by  the  Greeks  and 
Romans  with  a  crescent  on  her  head,  and  a  quiver, 
attended  by  dogs.  She  is  depicted  as  being  much 
taller  than  her  attendant  nymphs ;  her  face  has  a 
manly  character,  her  legs  are  bare,  and  her  feet 
covered  with  a  buskin,  as  worn  by  huntresses  among 
the  ancients.  Diana  is,  by  some,  erroneously  sup- 
posed to  be  the  same  as  the  Isis  of  the  Egyptians ; 
but  that  goddess  more  nearly  approaches  to  Ceres. 
She  appears  to  have  been  called  Luna,  or  Meni,  (the 
moon,)  in  heaven,  Diana  on  earth,  and  Hecate  in 
the  infernal  regions ;  thus  her  power  extended  over 
heaven,  earth,  and  hell.  But  the  Ephesian  deity 
Diana  was  evidently  the  second  named,  being  fig- 
ured with  several  rows  of  breasts,  intimating  that  she 
was  at  Ephesus  regarded  as  Nature, — the  mother  of 
mankind.  The  image  wore  a  sort  of  high  civic- 
crowned  miter,  and  its  feet  were  involved  in  gar- 
ments. And  there  is  little  doubt  that  the  goddess 
to  whom  temples  of  worship  were  erected  in  various 
parts  of  the  world  was  of  this  character.  We  are 
given  to  understand,  that  at  Rome  there  is  a  full- 
length  and  complete  image  of  this  goddess,  which 
is  clearly  an  enigmatical  representation  of  the  de- 
pendence of  all  creatures  on  the  power  of  nature ; 
or  the  many  and  extensive  blessings  bestowed  by 
nature  on  the  whole  animal  kingdom,  whether  man, 
beasts,  fish,  or  insects.  This  deity  is  symbolized  as 
diffusing  her  benefits  to  each  and  all.  Her  numerous 
rows  of  breasts  speak  the  same  allegorical  language 
— fountains  of  supply ;  whence  figures  of  this  kind 
were  called  -nolvpaaroi,  (many-breasted.)  Cities 
especially  were  honored  by  her  protection,  as  is 
evinced  by  the  turreted  ornament,  or  rather  civic 


190  SEVEN   WONDERS   OF  THE  WORLD. 

diadem  with  which  she  is  crowned.  She  wears  a 
necklace  of  pearls,  and  on  her  breastplate  are  the 
signs  of  the  zodiac,  in  testimony  that  throughout  all 
the  seasons  of  the  year  nature  dispenses  her  various 
bounties.  In  fact,  in  this  image  the  whole  course 
of  nature,  and  her  extensive  distributions,  are  rep- 
resented. Diana,  as  a  goddess  of  the  Latins,  was 
universally  worshiped,  but  does  not  appear  as  a 
huntress.  Servius  Tullius,  the  sixth  king  of  Rome, 
erected  a  temple  for  her  worship  on  Mount  Aven- 
tine ;  and  the  slaves  of  Rome,  in  honor  of  Servius, 
here  held  an  annual  festival.  We  are  told  that  the 
Sabines  also  joined  in  the  worship  at  this  temple, 
and  that  the  temple  was  the  joint  property  of  the 
Romans  and  Sabines.  Diana  was  also  worshiped 
in  the  grove  of  Aricia,  near  to  Rome ;  and  the  fes- 
tivals celebrated  there  in  her  honor  were  called  Ne- 
moralia. 

In  the  Townley  Collection  at  the  British  Museum 
there  is  a  statue  of  Diana,  in  a  long  vestment  reach- 
ing to  the  feet,  over  which  is  a  shorter  garment, 
fastened  at  the  waist  by  a  narrow  band.  The  right 
arm  is  uplifted  in  the  action  of  hurling  a  spear.  The 
drapery  appears  blown  back  by  the  wind.  The 
whole  of  the  right  arm,  and  the  left  arm  from  the 
elbow  downward,  being  of  modern  work,  it  may 
be  doubted  whether  the  restorer  has  given  the  real 
character  to  the  statue  as  it  was  seen  in  its  perfect 
state.  Some  artists  and  connoisseurs  consider  it 
probable  that  this  statue  was  originally  represented 
holding  a  bow  in  her  left  hand,  and  with  the  right 
hand  drawing  an  arrow  from  a  quiver  fastened  be- 
hind her  shoulder ; — such  is  the  action  of  Diana  in 
two  well-known  statues.    The  bow  and  quiver,  when 


TEMPLE   OF  DIANA  AT   EPHESUS.  191 

the  statue  was  perfect,  were  doubtless  of  bronze ; 
and  the  place  occupied  by  the  quiver,  behind  the 
right  shoulder,  is  very  perceptible,  as  well  as  the 
holes  and  the  metal  by  which  it  was  fastened  to  the 
marble.  It  was  found  in  1772,  near  La  Stocta,  about 
eio-ht  miles  from  Rome.  Here  likewise  may  be  seen 
a  most  beautiful  head  of  Diana,  sculptured  in  Parian 
marble.  It  is  altogether  a  most  superior  work. 
Chaste  severity  and  virginal  sweetness  and  simplici- 
ty are  most  happily  blended  in  the  character,  and 
the  fleshy  and  elastic  appearance  of  the  features,  and  * 
flowing  lightness  and  luxuriance  of  the  hair,  are  as 
perfect  as  we  can  conceive  the  material  to  admit  of. 
It  is  quite  perfect,  the  ancient  polish  of  the  surface 
being  preserved  throughout. 

Upon  the  very  site  that  the  great  Christian  cathe- 
dral of  St.  Paul  at  London  now  stands,  there  was,  in 
ancient  times,  a  great  temple  to  Diana ;  and  we  are 
told,  upon  good  authority,  that  at  no  very  distant 
period  it  was  usual  to  bring  up  a  fat  buck  to  the 
altar  of  St,  Paul's,  with  hunters'  horns  blowing,  in 
the  middle  of  divine  service.  This  is  an  evident 
proof  of  the  long-continued  attachment  of  the  people 
to  their  established  festivals,  which  they  were  un- 
willing to  part  with;  therefore  Gregory,  or  Thau- 
maturgus,  a  Christian  bishop  in  260,  to  facilitate 
their  conversion,  instituted  annual  festivals  to  the 
saints  and  martyrs.  Hence  it  came  to  pass,  that  for 
exploding  the  festivals  of  the  heathens,  the  principal 
festivals  of  the  Christians  succeeded  in  their  room, — 
as  the  keeping  of  Christmas  with  joy  and  feasting 
and  sports,  in  the  stead  of  the  Bacchanalia  and 
Saturnalia;  the  celebrating  of  May-day  with  flowers, 
in  the  room  of  the  Floralia;  and  the  keeping  of  fes- 


192  SEVEN   WONDERS   OF   THE   WORLD. 

tivals  to  the  Virgin  Mary,  John  the  Baptist,  and 
divers  of  the  apostles,  in  the  place  of  the  solemnities 
at  the  entrance  of  the  sun  into  the  signs  of  the  zodiac 
in  the  old  Julian  calendar.  We  may  infer  the  in- 
evitable corruption  of  practical  Christianity  in  the 
Middle  Ages,  from  the  obstinate  attachment  of  the 
converted  barbarians  to  their  ancient  pagan  customs, 
and  the  allowed  continuance  of  many  by  the  Catholic 
clergy.  There  is  extant  a  letter  from  Pope  Gregory 
the  Great,  in  the  sixth  century,  to  the  Abbot  Mel- 
litus,  then  departing  to  Britain,  desiring  him  to  tell 
Augustine,  the  first  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  that, 
after  mature  deliberation  on  the  affairs  of  the  En- 
glish, he  was  of  opinion  that  the  temples  of  the  idols 
in  that  nation  ought  not  to  be  destroyed,  but  that 
the  idols  should.  He  further  orders  that  the  tem- 
ples be  sprinkled  with  holy  water,  and  relics  be 
placed  in  them ;  and  because  their  ancestors  sacri- 
ficed oxen  in  their  pagan  worship,  he  directs  the  ob- 
ject of  sacrifice  to  be  exchanged,  and  permits  them 
to  build  huts  of  trees  about  the  temples  so  trans- 
formed into  churches,  on  the  day  of  the  dedication, 
or  nativities  of  the  martyrs  whose  relics  they  con- 
tain, and  there  to  kill  the  cattle  and  celebrate  the 
solemnity  with  religious  feasting. 

Some  etymologists  derive  the  name  London  from 
Han-Diem,  which  signifies  in  British  the  Temple 
of  Dian. 

Homer,  in  the  hymn  addressed  to  this  goddess, 
thus  describes  her  occupations : — 

Along  the  shady  hills  and  breezy  peats, 
Rejoicing  in  the  chase,  her  golden  bow 
She  bends,  her  deadly  arrows  sending  forth. 
Then  tremble  of  the  lofty  hills  the  tops ; 


TEMPLE   OF   DIANA   AT   EPHESUS.  193 

The  shady  wood  rcbelloweth  aloud 

Unto  the  bowstring's  twang ;  the  earth  itself 

And  fishy  sea  then  shudder :  hut  she  still 

A  braVe  heart  bearing  goeth  forth  around, 

Slaughtering  the  race  of  savage  beasts.    But  when 

Beast-marking,  arrow-loving  Artemis 

Would  cheer  her  soul,  relaxing  her  curved  bow, 

She  to  her  brother  Phoebus-Apollo's  house 

Ample  repaireth,  to  the  fertile  land 

Of  Delphi,  to  arrange  the  lovely  dance 

Of  Muses  and  of  Graces ;  there  hangs  up 

Her  springy  bow  and  arrows,  and  begins 

To  lead  the  dance ;  her  body  all  array'd 

In  raiment  fair.     They  pouring  forth  their  voice 

Divine,  sing  Leto  lovely-ankled,  how 

She  brought  forth  children,  'mid  the  deathless,  far 

The  best  in  counsel,  and  in  numerous  deeds. 

With  respect  to  the  characteristics  attached  to 
this  goddess  as  Hecate,  there  is  a  good  deal  of  ob- 
scurity. Her  name,  the  feminine  of  Hecatus,  one 
of  the  epithets  of  Apollo,  denotes  an  affinity  with 
him.  It  signifies  Far-shooter,  or  Far-worker,  and 
therefore  would  apply  to  the  moon-goddess.  Many 
of  her  attributes  are  the  same  as  those  of  Artemis ; 
and  hence  she  became  the  patroness  of  magic,  an 
attribute  foreign  to  her  original  character.  She 
was  invoked  as  the  triple  goddess,  and  believed  to 
wander  by  night  upon  the  earth,  seen  only  by  the 
dogs,  whose  baying  announced  her  approach.  She 
was  regarded  as  beneficent,  and  the  averter  of  evil. 
Her  statues  were  set  up  in  Athens  and  other  places, 
before  the  houses,  in  the  market-places,  and  at 
cross-roads ;  and  at  the  new  moon,  offerings  of  meat 
were  made  to  her,  that  she  might  prevent  the 
souls  of  the  dead  from  appearing.  Keightley  sug- 
gests the  probability  that  Hecate  was  to  one  tribe 
of  Greeks  what  Artemis  was  to  another,  and  that 


194     SEVEN  WONDERS  OF  THE  WORLD. 

when  the  tribes  mingled  together,  the  two  goddesses 
were,  after  the  usual  process  of  their  system  of 
theocracy,  made  one. 

There  is  in  the  British  Museum  a  Greek  inscrip- 
tion, found  at  Halicarnassus,  which  we  may  call  an 
advertisement,  offering  the  sale  of  the  priesthood  of 
Diana,  and  reciting  the  emoluments  of  the  office. 
It  is  dated  in  the  month  of  Heraclius,  under  the 
prsetorship  of  Charmylus. 

Bryant,  in  the  "Analysis  of  Ancient  Mythology," 
says,  Hecate  is  an  epithet  of  the  moon,  as  Hecatos 
was  of  the  sun ;  signifying  most  distant,  or  far-dart- 
ing. Hecate  was  Diana  Triformis,  a  goddess  of 
heaven,  earth,  and  the  nether  world.  She  was  also 
the  same  as  Lucina;  and  he  also  notices  that  the 
moon  was  a  type  of  the  ark,  the  sacred  ship  of  Osiris 
being  represented  in  the  form  of  a  crescent. 

The  evangelist  Luke,  in  his  narrative  of  the  Acts 
of  the  Apostles,  affords  us  a  copious  insight  into  the 
history  of  Syria  and  Asia  Minor  in  his  own  time ; 
and  in  the  nineteenth  chapter  exhibits  the  vast 
reverence  and  awe  entertained  by  the  people  of 
Ephesus  for  the  name  and  worship  of  their  goddess. 

The  Apostle  Paul,  after  a  residence  of  three  years 
in  Greece,  went  by  sea  to  Palestine,  and  for  the 
fourth  time  after  his  conversion  visited  Jerusalem. 
From  thence  he  proceeded  to  Antioch,  and,  having 
remained  there  for  some  time,  went  on  a  tour 
through  the  Churches  of  Galatia  and  Phrygia. 
After  providing  for  the  due  administration  of  re- 
ligious worship  in  the  principal  cities,  he  went  to 
Ephesus,  where  he  stayed  two  years.  He  first  began 
to  preach  in  the  synagogue ;  but  finding  the  Jews, 
as  usual,  obstinately  opposed  him,  he  taught  Chris- 


TEMPLE   OP  DIANA   AT   EPHESUS.  195 

tianity  in  the  school  of  one  Tyrannus,  who  was  most 
probably  a  Gentile  and  a  convert,  and  had  become 
a  teacher  in  Ephesus.  Here  Paul  met  with  great 
success,  God  confirming  the  word  by  many  miracles. 
In  this  city,  as  well  as  others  where  the  Jews 
dwelt,  there  were  many  vagabonds, — exorcists,  as 
they  were  termed, — whose  practices  were  exposed 
by  the  apostle.  These  appear  to  have  been  strolling 
Jews,  who  went  from  place  to  place,  professing  to  tell 
fortunes,  cast  out  devils,  and  effect  cures  by  charms, 
after  the  skill  of  the  physician  was  unavailing.  The 
sentiment  of  wonder  thus  produced  in  the  minds  of 
the  heathen  was  highly  favorable  to  the  pretensions 
which  many  unprincipled  Jews  made  to  extraor- 
dinary, and  even  supernatural  powers.  Among  the 
Jews  themselves  there  was,  in  all  sincerity,  a  strong 
partiality  for  the  arts  of  magic,  which  were  freely 
studied  by  persons  of  the  most  ambitious  pretensions 
to  character  and  learning.  With  respect  to  exor- 
cists in  particular,  some  notion  of  their  ideas  and 
practices  may  be  obtained  from  Josephus,  who 
shows  that  the  Jews  had  certain  incantations  which 
were  believed  to  be  effectual  for  the  expulsion  of 
devils,  which  magical  charms  were  greatly  valued 
and  venerated  from  being  the  supposed  invention 
of  Solomon.  He  mentions  in  particular  one  Eleazar, 
who  made  an  exhibition  of  his  art  before  Yespasian ; 
he  relieved  those  who  were  possessed  of  evil  spirits 
from  them ;  and  this  he  did  by  drawing  the  devil 
forth  by  the  nostrils  of  the  possessed  person.  For 
this  purpose  he  applied  to  his  nose  a  ring,  which 
had  under  it  a  root,  the  virtues  of  which  had  been 
discovered  by  Solomon ;  by  which,  and  by  repeat- 
ing the  name  of  Solomon,  and  reciting  the  incanta- 


196  SEVEN   WONDERS    OF   THE   WORLD. 

tions  which  that  wise  monarch  had  composed,  the 
evil  spirit  was  obliged  to  leave  the  possessed  person. 
Josephus  also  states  that  they  had  also  other  forms 
of  exorcism  and  modes  of  incantation,  composed,  as 
they  believed,  or  professed  to  believe,  by  Solomon. 

Ephesus  was  notorious  for  the  addiction  of  its 
inhabitants  to  sorcery,  magic,  and  such  like  "curious 
arts ;"  whence  came  the  proverbial  phrase  of  "  Ephe- 
sian  letters,"  to  express  all  kinds  of  charms  and 
spells.  These  "Ephesian  letters"  were,  properly, 
certain  obscure  words  and  incoherent  sentences, 
which  the  superstitious  people  were  wont  to  write 
upon  their  girdles,  or  even  imprint  upon  their 
bodies,  under  the  idea  of  securing  themselves  from 
harm,  or  procuring  benefits. 

Thus,  we  are  informed  by  Plutarch,  that  the  magi- 
cians compel  those  who  were  possessed  of  a  demon  to 
recite  and  pronounce  the  Ephesian  letters  in  a  certain 
order;  and  by  Erasmus  we  learn  that  there  were 
certain  works  and  magical  words,  by  the  use  of  which 
the  Ephesians  believed  they  would  insure  success  in 
any  undertaking. 

The  image  of  the  goddess,  which  was  said  to  have 
fallen  from  heaven,  or,  as  they  expressed  it,  descended 
from  Jupiter,  being  the  great  object  of  both  resident 
and  stranger  worshipers,  great  employment  was  given, 
by  the  manufacture  of  shrines  and  votive  offerings,  to 
many  silversmiths,  jewelers,  and  such-like  workmen. 
These  silver  shrines  are  supposed  to  have  been  models 
of  the  temple,  the  open  doors  of  which  displayed  the 
figure  of  the  goddess  in  the  center.  These  shrines 
were  purchased  by  the  worshipers,  who,  upon  their 
return  to  their  homes,  would  set  them  up  and  con- 
secrate them  to  domestic  worship.     In  pageants  and 


TEMPLE   OF   DIANA   AT   EPIIESUS.  197 

processions  the  goddess  was  represented  as  borne 
about  in  a  car,  representing  her  own  temple.  One 
of  these,  named  Demetrius,  finding  that  his  trade 
declined,  in  consequence  of  the  rapid  progress  of 
Christianity,  excited  a  fearful  tumult,  to  which  the 
Jews  lent  their  assistance,  and  dragged  the  Christian 
teachers  before  the  assembly  in  the  theater.  Alex- 
ander, one  of  the  Christians,  having  in  vain  attempted 
to  address  the  assemby  in  defense  of  the  gospel  they 
preached,  was  overpowered  by  shouts  of  "Great  is 
Diana  of  the  Ephesians."  The  magistrates  there- 
upon appeased  the  tumult,  by  telling  them  that  the 
Christians,  not  being  robbers  of  churches  nor  blas- 
phemers of  their  goddess,  had  been  wrongfully 
brought  before  them,  and  therefore  dismissed  the 
assembly. 

The  theater,  among  the  Greeks  and  states  of  Greek 
origin,  was  not  only  appropriated  to  public  games, 
but  also  to  every  kind  of  public  business, — it  was 
the  town-hall,  the  senate,  the  forum, — harangues  to 
the  people  were  there  delivered.  The  situation  of 
the  theater  at  Ephesus  would  not  a  little  promote 
and  increase  the  tumult,  as  it  was  immediately  within 
view  of  the  Temple  of  Diana. 

In  reference  to  incantations  performed  at  Ephesus, 
that  are  noticed  by  the  apostle,  we  think  it  is  clear 
that  even  the  very  heathen  must  have  had  some 
knowledge  of  the  name  of  the  eternal — the  infinite 
— the  incomprehensible  Being — the  Creator  of  all 
things,  for  we  have  an  oath  in  the  golden  verses  of 
Pythagoras, — "By  him  who  has  the  four  letters;" 
and  on  the  front  of  a  temple  at  Delphi,  we  are  told 
by  Eusebius,  was  inscribed,  "  Thou  art."  The  Egyp- 
tians inscribed  on  one  of  their  temples,  "  I  am."    The 


198    SEVEN  WONDERS  OF  THE  WORLD. 

heathen  had  names  of  their  gods  which  they  did 
not  dare  to  pronounce ;  for  Cicero  and  Lucan  tell 
us,  that  the  earth  would  have  trembled  had  any 
one  pronounced  them. 

Some  writers,  whose  opinions  are  deserving  of 
regard,  are  inclined  to  the  idea  that  it  was  by  the 
power  of  the  ineffable  and  mysterious  name  of  the 
omnipotent  and  omniscient  Creator  of  the  universe, 
Jehovah — pronounced  in  a  way  peculiar  to  them- 
selves— that  these  miracles  were  to  be  performed. 
Basnage,  in  his  "  History  of  the  Jews,"  has  some 
remarkable  notices  of  Hebrew  reverence  and'  dread 
of  the  name.  "  I  appeared,"  says  the  Almighty, 
"  to  Abraham,  to  Isaac,  and  to  Jacob,  by  the  name 
of  Al  Shaddai,  but  by  my  name  Jehovah  was  I  not 
known  to  them."  Shaddai  signifies  self-sufficient ; 
Jehovah,  the  self-existent, — he  who  gives  being  and 
existence  to  others.  The  modern  Hebrews  affirm 
that  Moses,  by  virtue  of  the  word  Jehovah  engraved 
upon  his  rod,  performed  all  his  miracles,  and  that 
.we  might  all  be  able  to  do  as  much  as  he  did,  if  we 
could  attain  the  perfect  pronunciation  of  this  name. 
They  flatter  themselves  that  the  Messiah  will  teach 
them  this  mighty  secret.  It  is  called  by  Josephus 
the  four-lettered  name — the  sacred  letters — the  shud- 
dering name  of  God. 

We  also  learn  from  ancient  Jewish  writers,  that 
the  Jod  in  Jehovah  is  one  of  those  things  which  the 
eye  hath  not  seen,  but  which  has  been  concealed 
from  all  mankind.  Its  essence  and  nature  are  in- 
comprehensible ;  but  it  is  not  lawful  so  much  as  to 
meditate  upon  it,  Man  may  lawfully  revolve  his 
thoughts  from  one  end  of  the  heavens  to  the  other ; 
but  he  cannot  approach  that  ineffable  light — that 


TEMPLE  OF   DIANA   AT   EPHESUS.  199 

primitive  existence — contained  in  the  letter  Jod. 
And,  indeed,  the  masters  call  the  letter  Thought,  or 
Idea,  and  prescribe  no  bounds  to  its  efficacy.  It 
was  this  letter  which,  flowing  from  the  primitive 
light,  gave  being  to  emanations ;  it  wearied  itself  by 
the  way,  but  assumed  new  vigor  by  the  assistance 
of  the  letter  H,  which  makes  the  second  letter  of 
the  ineffable  name.  The  other  letters  have  also 
their  mysteries.  The  last  H  discovers  the. unity  of 
a  God  and  a  Creator ;  and  upon  this  letter  that  grand 
truth  is  built :  but  four  streams  issue  from  this  unity, 
— the  four  majesties  of  God,  which  the  Jews  call 
Shekinal.  The  whole  name  Jehovah  includes  in  it 
all  things  in  general,  and  therefore  he  that  pro- 
nounces it  puts  the  whole  world  into  his  mouth,  and 
all  the  creatures  that  compose  it.  The  man  that 
pronounces  the  name  of  the  Lord  moves  the  heaven 
and  the  earth  in  proportion  as  he  moves  his  lips  and 
tongue.  The  angels  feel  the  motion  of  the  universe, 
and  are  astonished,  and  ask  one  another,  "  Whence 
comes  this  concussion  of  the  world  ?"  It  is  answered : 
"The  impious  1ST  has  moved  his  lips  in  pronouncing 
the  ineffable  name." 

What  would  have  been  the  astonishment  and 
grief  of  the  Apostle  Paul  and  his  disciple,  Timothy, 
if  they  could  have  foreseen  that  a  time  would  come 
when  there  would  be  in  Ephesns  neither  Church 
nor  city, — when  the  great  metropolis  would  become 
"heaps,  a  desolation,  a  dry  land,  and  a  wilderness; 
a  land  wherein  no  man  dwelleth,  neither  doth  any 
son  of  man  pass  thereby  !"  Once  it  had  an  idolatrous 
temple,  celebrated  throughout  the  world  for  its  mag- 
nificence, and  the  mountains  of  Corissus  and  Prion 
reechoed  the  shouts  of  ten  thousand  voices,  "  Great 


200         SEVEN   WONDERS   OF   THE   WORLD. 

is  Diana  of  the  Ephesians !"  Once  it  had  Christian 
temples,  almost  rivaling  the  pagan  in  splendor; 
wherein  the  image  that  descended  from  Jupiter 
lay  prostrate  before  the  cross,  and  as  many 
tongues,  moved  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  made  public 
avowal  that  "  Great  is  the  Lord  Jesus !"  Once  it 
had  a  bishop,  "  the  angel  of  the  Clmrch,"  Timothy, 
the  disciple  of  Paul  and  St.  John ;  and  tradition 
reports  that  it  was  honored  with  the  last  days  of 
St.  John,  and  of  Timothy,  and  of  the  mother  of  our 
Lord. 

Here  we  see  the  fulfillment  of  the  prophecy :  "  the 
candlestick  "  is  indeed  "  removed  out  of  his  place," 
and  the  interest  we  must  all  feel  in  tracing  the  foot- 
steps, the  acts,  and  teaching  of  our  Lord  and  his 
disciples,  is  immeasurably  increased  in  reviewing, 
in  the  dread  prediction  of  eighteen  centuries  ago, 
the  very  picture  and  present  desolation  of  this  one 
of  the  primitive  Churches  of  our  faith, — one  of  the 
first  to  echo  the  glad  tidings  of  salvation. 

Mr.  Stephens,  who  visited  Ephesus  in  1835,  in 
his  "Incidents  of  Travel"  furnishes  so  much  in- 
teresting information,  and  his  impressions  upon 
beholding  the  ruins  of  this  once  great  city,  that  we 
inve  it  entire : — 

"  Go  with  me  where,  by  comparison,  the  foot  of 
civilized  man  seldom  treads ;  go  with  me  into  the 
deserts  and  solitary  places ;  go  with  me  among  the 
cities  of  the  seven  Churches  of  Asia ;  and,  first,  to 
the  ruins  of  Ephesus.  I  have  been  several  days 
expecting  a  companion  to  make  this  tour  with  me, 
but,  being  disappointed,  was  obliged  to  set  out 
alone.  I  was  not  exactly  alone,  for  I  had  with  me 
a  Turk  as  guide,  and  a  Greek  as  cicerone  and  inter- 


TEMPLE   OF   DIANA   AT  EPHESITS.  201 

prefer,  both  well  mounted,  and  armed  to  the  teeth. 
AVe  started  at  two  o'clock  in  the  morning,  under  the 
light  of  thousands  of  stars ;  and  the  day  broke  upon 
us  in  a  country  wild  and  desolate,  as  if  it  were  re- 
moved thousands  of  miles  from  the  habitations  of 
men.  There  was  little  variety  and  little  incident  in 
our  ride.  During  the  whole  day  it  lay  through  a 
country  decidedly  handsome,  the  soil  rich  and  fer- 
tile, but  showing  with  appalling  force  the  fatal 
effects  of  misgovernment, — wholly  uncultivated,  and 
almost  wholly  uninhabited.  Indeed,  the  only  habi- 
tations were  the  little  Turkish  coffee-houses  and 
the  black  tents  of  the  Turcomans.  These  are  a 
wandering  tribe  who  come  out  from  the  desert,  and 
approach  comparatively  near  the  abodes  of  civiliza- 
tion. They  are  a  pastoral  people ;  their  riches  are 
their  flocks  and  herds ;  they  lead  a  wandering  life, 
free  as  the  air  they  breathe ;  they  have  no  local 
attachments ;  to-day  they  pitch  their  tents  on  the 
hill-side,  to-morrow  on  the  plain ;  and  wherever  they 
set  themselves  down,  all  that  they  have  on  earth, 
wife,  children,  and  friends,  are  immediately  around 
them.  There  is  something  primitive,  almost  pa- 
triarchal, in  their  appearance ;  indeed,  it  carries 
one  back  to  a  simple,  and  perhaps  a  purer  age,  and 
you  can  almost  realize  that  state  of  society  when 
the  patriarch  sat  in  the  door  of  his  tent,  and  called 
in  and  fed  the  passing  traveler. 

"  The  general  character  of  the  road  is  such  as  to 
prepare  one  for  the  scene  that  awaits  him  at  Ephe- 
sus ;  enormous  burying-grounds,  with  thousands  of 
head-stones  shaded  by  the  mourning  cypress,  in  the 
midst  of  a  desolate  country,  where  not  a  vestige  of 
a  human  habitation  is  to  be  seen.    They  stand  on 

13 


202  SEVEN    WONDERS   OF   THE   WORLD. 

the  roadside,  as  melancholy  tell-tales  that  large 
towns  or  cities  once  existed  in  their  immediate 
neighborhood,  and  that  the  generations  who  occu- 
pied them  have  passed  away,  furnishing  fearful 
evidence  of  the  decrease  of  the  Turkish  population, 
and,  perhaps,  that  the  gigantic  empire  of  the  Otto- 
man is  tottering  to  its  fall. 

"  For  about  three  hours  before  reaching  Ephesus, 
the  road,  crossing  a  rich  and  beautiful  plain  watered 
by  the  Cayster,  lies  between  two  mountains ;  that 
on  the  right  leads  to  the  sea,  and  on  the  left  are 
the  ruins  of  Ephesus.  Near,  and  in  the  imme- 
diate vicinity,  storks  were  calmly  marching  over 
the  plain,  and  building  among  the  ruins;  they 
moved  as  if  seldom  disturbed  by  human  footsteps, 
and  seemed  to  look  upon  us  as  intruders  upon  a  spot 
for  a  long  time  abandoned  to  birds  and  beasts  of 
prey.  About  a  mile  this  side  are  the  remains  of 
the  Turkish  city  of  Aysalouk,  or  Temple  of  the 
Moon,  a  city  of  comparatively  modern  date,  reared 
into  a  brief  magnificence  out  of  the  ruins  of  its 
fallen  neighbor.  A  sharp  hill,  almost  a  mountain, 
rises  abruptly  from  the  plain,  on  the  top  of  which 
is  a  ruined  fortress,  with  many  ruins  of  Turkish 
magnificence  at  the  base :  broken  columns,  baths 
overgrown  with  ivy,  and  the  remains  of  a  grand 
mosque,  the  roof  sustained  by  four  granite  columns 
from  the  Temple  of  Diana ;  the  minaret  fallen,  the 
mosque  deserted;  the  Mussulman  no  more  goes 
there  to  pray ;  bats  and  owls  were  building  in  its 
lofty  roof,  and  snakes  and  lizards  were  crawling 
over  its  marble  floor. 

"  It  was  late  in  the  afternoon  when  I  arrived  at 
the  little  coffee-house  at  Avsalouk ;  a  caravan  had 


TEMPLE   OF   DIANA   AT   EPHESUS.  203 

already  encamped  under  some  fine  old  sycamores 
before  the  door,  preparatory  to  passing  the  night. 
1  was  somewhat  fatigued,  and  my  Greek,  who  had 
me  in  charge,  was  disposed  to  stop  and  wait  for  the 
morrow;  but  the  fallen  city  was  on  the  opposite 
hill  at  but  a  short  distance,  and  the  shades  of  even- 
ing seemed  well  calculated  to  heighten  the  effect 
of  a  ramble  among  its  ruins.  In  a  right  line  it  was 
not  more  than  half  a  mile ;  but  we  soon  found  that 
we  could  not  go  directly  to  it:  a  piece  of  low 
swampy  ground  lay  between,  and  we  had  not  gone 
far  before  our  horses  sank  up  to  their  saddle-girths. 
We  were  obliged  to  retrace  our  steps,  and  work  our 
way  around  by  a  circuitous  route  of  more  than  two 
miles.  This,  too,  added  to  the  effect  of  our  ap- 
proach. It  was  a  dreary  reflection,  that  a  city, 
whose  ports  and  whose  gates  had  been  open  to  the 
commerce  of  the  then  known  world,  whose  wealth  had 
invited  the  traveler  and  sojourner  within  its  walls, 
should  lie  a  ruin  upon  a  hill-side,  with  swamps  and 
morasses  extending  around  it,  in  sight  but  out  of 
reach,  near  but  unapproachable.  A  warning  voice 
seemed  to  issue  from  the  ruins,  JProcul,  o  procul 
este,  prqfani, — My  day  is  past,  my  sun  is  set,  I  have 
gone  to  my  grave :  pass  on  stranger,  and  disturb 
not  the  ashes  of  the  dead. 

"  We  moved  along  in  perfect  silence ;  for,  besides 
that  my  Turk  never  spoke,  and  my  Greek,  who  was 
generally  loquacious  enough,  was  out  of  humor  at 
being  obliged  to  go  on,  we  had  enough  to  do  in 
picking  our  lonely  way.  But  silence  best  suited  the 
scene  ;  the  sound  of  the  human  voice  seemed  almost 
a  mockery  of  fallen  greatness.  We  entered  by  a 
large  and  ruined  gateway  into  a  place  distinctly 


204         SEVEN   WONDERS   OF  THE   WORLD. 

marked  as  having  been  a  street,  and,  from  the  bro- 
ken columns  strewed  on  each  side,  probably  having 
been  lined  with  a  colonnade.     I  let  my  reins  fall 
upon  my  horse's  neck  ;  he  moved  about  in  the  slow 
and  desultory  way  that  suited  my  humor ;  now  sink- 
ing to  his  knees  in  heaps  of  rubbish,  now  stumbling 
over  a  Corinthian  capital,  and  now  sliding  over  a 
marble  pavement.     The  whole  hill-side  is  covered 
with  ruins  to  an  extent  far  greater  than  I  expected 
to  find,  and  they  are  all  of  a  kind  that  tends  to  give 
a  high  idea  of  the  ancient  magnificence  of  the  city. 
To  me,  these  ruins  appeared  to  be  a  confused  and 
shapeless  mass :  but  they  have  been  examined  by 
antiquaries  with  great  care,  and  the  character  of 
many  of  them  identified  with  great  certainty.    I  had, 
however,  no  time  for  details ;  and,  indeed,  the  in- 
terest of  these  ruins  in  my  eyes  was  not  in  the  de- 
tails.    It  mattered  little  to  .me  that  this  was  the 
stadium  and  that  a  fountain  ;  that  this  was  a  gym- 
nasium and  that  a  market-place :  it  was  enough  to 
know  that  the  broken  columns,  the  moldering  walls, 
the  grass- grown  streets,  and  the  wide-extended  scene 
of  desolation  and  ruin  around  me,  were  all  that  re- 
mained of  one  of  the  greatest  cities  of  Asia,  one  of 
the  earliest  Christian  cities  in  the  world.     But  what 
do  I  say  ?    Who  does  not  remember  the  tumults  and 
confusion  raised  by  Demetrius  the  silversmith,  'lest 
the  temple  of  the  great  goddess  Diana  should  be 
despised,  and  her  magnificence  be  destroyed ; '  and 
how  the  -people,  having  caught  '  Caius  and  Aristar- 
chus,  Paul's  companions  in  travel,'  rushed  witli  one 
accord  into  the  theater,  crying  out,  '  Great  is  Diana 
of  the  Ephesians ! '     I  sat  among  the  ruins  of  that 
theater ;  the  stillness  of  death  was  around  me ;  far 


TEMPLE   OF  DIANA   AT  EPHESUS.  205 

as  the  eye  could  reach,  not  a  living  soul  was  to  be 
seen,  save  my  two  companions,  and  a  group  of  lazy 
Turks  smoking  at  the  coffee-house  in  Aysalouk.  A 
man  of  strong  imagination  might  also  go  wild  with 
the  intensity  of  his  own  reflections ;  that  even  one 
like  me,  brought  up  among  the  technicalities  of  dec- 
larations and  replications,  rebutters  and  surrebut- 
ters, and  in  nowise  given  to  the  illusions  of  the 
senses,  should  find  himself  roused,  and  irresistibly 
hurried  back  to  the  time  when  the  shapeless  and 
confused  mass  around  him  formed  one  of  the  most 
magnificent  cities  in  the  world ;  when  a  large  and 
busy  population  was  hurrying  through  its  streets, 
intent  upon  the  same  pleasures  and  the  same  busi- 
ness that  engage  men  now ;  that  he  should,  in  imag- 
ination, see  before  him  St.  Paul  preaching  to  the 
Ephesians,  shaking  their  faith  in  the  gods  of  their 
fathers,  gods  made  with  their  own  hands ;  and  the 
noise  and  confusion,  and  the  people  rushing  tumult- 
uously  up  the  very  steps  where  he  sat;  that  he 
should  almost  hear  their  cry  ringing  in  his  ears, 
'  Great  is  Diana  of  the  Ephesians ! '  and  then  that 
he  should  turn  from  this  scene  of  former  glory  and 
eternal  ruin  to  his  own  far-distant  land — a  land  that 
the  wisest  of  the  Ephesians  never  dreamed  of; 
where  the  wild  man  was  striving  with  the  wild  beast 
when  the  whole  world  rang  with  the  greatness  of 
the  Ephesian  name ;  and  which  bids  fair  to  be  grow- 
ing greater  and  greater  when  the  last  vestige  of 
Ephesus  shall  be  gone,  and  its  very  site  unknown. 

"  But  where  is  the  temple  of  the  great  Diana — 
the  temple  two  hundred  and  twenty  years  in  build- 
ing— the  temple  of  one  hundred  and  twenty-seven 
columns,  each  column  the  gift  of  a  king?     Can  it 


206    SEVEN  WONDERS  OF  THE  WORLD. 

be  that  the  temple  of  the  'great  goddess  Diana,' 
that  the  ornament  of  Asia,  the  pride  of  Ephesns, 
and  one  of  the  seven  wonders  of  the  world,  has  gone, 
disappeared,  and  left  not  a  trace  behind  ? 

"  Topographers  have  fixed  the  site  on  the  plain, 
near  the  gate  of  the  city  which  opened  to  the  sea. 
The  sea,  which  once  almost  washed  the  walls,  has 
receded  or  been  driven  back  for  several  miles.  For 
many  years  a  new  soil  has  been  accumulating,  and 
all  that  stood  on  the  plain,  including  so  much  of  the 
remains  of  the  temple  as  had  not  been  plundered 
and  carried  away  by  different  conquerors,  is  proba- 
bly now  buried  many  feet  under  its  surface. 

"To  the  Christian,  the  ruins  of  Ephesus  carry 
with  them  a  peculiar  interest ;  for  here,  upon  the 
wreck  of  heathen  temples,  was  established  one  of 
the  earliest  Christian  Churches ;  but  the  Christian 
Church  has  followed  the  heathen  temple,  and  the 
worshipers  of  the  true  God  have  followed  the  wor- 
shipers of  the  great  goddess  Diana  ;  and  in  the  city 
where  Paul  preached,  and  where,  in  the  words  of 
the  apostle,  '  much  people  were  gathered  unto  the 
Lord,'  now  not  a  solitary  Christian  dwells*' Verily, 
in  the  prophetic  language  of  inspiration, '  the  candle- 
stick is  removed  from  its  place ; '  a  curse  seems  to 
have  fallen  upon  it,  men  shun  it,  not  a  human  being 
is  to  be  seen  among  its  ruins ;  and  Ephesus,  in  faded 
glory  and  fallen  grandeur,  is  given  up  to  birds  and 
beasts  of  prey,  a  monument  and  a  warning  to  na- 
tions." 


€|e  iitofltam  at  ^Elitantassns. 


Four  faces  had  the  dome,  and  every  face 
Of  various  structures,  but  of  equal  grace. 
Westward  a  sumptuous  frontispiece  appear'd 
Of  Doric  columns  of  white  marble  rear'd  ; 
Crown'd  with  an  architrave  of  antique  mold, 
And  sculpture  rising  on  the  roughen'd  gold. 
Of  antique  structure  was  the  northern  side, 
O'erwrought  with  ornaments  of  barb'rous  pride. 
The  eastern  front  was  glorious  to  behold — 
With  scarlet  flaming  and  barbaric  gold. 
But  on  the  south  a  long  majestic  race 
Of  Hellas'  deities,  the  niches  grace. 
Finish'd  the  whole,  and  labour'd  every  part, 
With  patient  touches  of  unwearied  art. 


CONTENTS. 


Mausolus  and  Artemesia. 

Halicarnassus. 

The  Mausoleum. 

The  Tomb  of  Cyrus. 

The  Tomb  of  Darius. 

Alexander's  Mausoleum  to  Heph;estion. 

The  Mausoleum  of  Augustus. 

The  Mausoleum  of  Hadrlin. 

The  Tomb  of  the  Scipios. 

The  Tomb  of  Cecelia  Metella. 

The  Tomb  of  Maximilian. 

The  Taj  Mahal. 

Other  Mausoleums  in  India. 

The  Mausoleum  to  the  Marquis  of  Rockingham. 

The  Mausoleums  at  Castle  Howaed,  at  Cobham, 

and  brocklesby. 
The  Tombs  of  the  Kings  in  Egypt. 
The  Tombs  at  Thebes. 
The  Tombs  at  Jizeh. 


THE  MAUSOLEUM, 


OB 


TOMB   ERECTED   BY   ARTEMISIA,   QUEEN   OF  CARIA,   TO 
THE  MEMORY  OF  HER  HUSBAND  MAUSOLUS. 

There  thou !  whose  love  and  life  together  fled 
Have  left  me  here  to  love  and  live  in  vain — 
Twined  with  my  heart,  and  can  I  deem  thee  dead 
When  busy  memory  flashes  on  my  brain  ? 
Well — I  will  dream  that  we  may  meet  again, 
And  woo  the  vision  to  my  vacant  breast ; 
If  aught  of  young  remembrance  then  remain, 
Be  as  it  may  futurity's  behest, 

For  me  't  were  bliss  enough  to  know  thy  spirit  blest. 

This  celebrated  tribute  of  affectionate  regard,  the 
name  of  which  gave  the  designation  to  all  struc- 
tures afterward  erected  as  sepulchers  or  tombs,  was 
designed  by  direction  of  Artemisia,  the  wife  of 
Mausolus,  a  King  of  Caria,  who  died  B.  C.  353. 
Mausolus  and  Artemisia  were  the  son  and  daughter 
of  Hecatomnus,  King  of  Caria :  they  were  famed 
throughout  Asia  for  their  personal  charms. 

We  have  no  information  as  to  the  time  of  their 
union;  all  that  we  can  learn  is  the  date  of  their 
decease ;  we  are  consequently  in  ignorance  of  the 
years  of  enduring  attachment  between  these  para- 
gons in  connubial  tenderness. 

The  love  of  Artemisia  was  so  great,  that  at  the 
death  of  her  Mausolus,  his  body  being  burned,  ac- 
cording to  the  custom  of  the  country,  she  caused  his 


210         SEVEN   WONDERS    OF   THE   WORLD. 

ashes  to  be  mixed  with  wine  or  <3ther  liquor,  which 
she  drank. 

She  then  resolved  to  erect  to  the  memory  of  her 
beloved  husband  at  Halicarnassus,  the  metropolis  of 
Caria,  a  tomb,  which  in  magnificence  should  surpass 
any  other  building  that  had  ever  been  devoted  to  the 
same  purpose,  in  any  part  of  the  world :  and  from 
the  accounts  that  have  been  handed  down  to  us 
by  ancient  writers,  it  certainly  must  have  surpassed 
any  other  memorial  of  iihe  dead  of  which  we  have 
record. 

Of  this  wondrous  monument  not  the  smallest 
vestige  has  remained  to  modern  times, — unless  those 
fragments  presented  to  the  British  Museum  by 
Sir  Stratford  Canning  are  such.  The  accounts 
which  the  ancient  historians  furnish  us,  in  no  one 
case  affording  a  complete  description  of  its  construc- 
tion, we  are  by  necessity  compelled  to  unite  the 
narrations  they  have  left  us,  and  with  the  aid  of  an 
ancient  engraving  to  exhibit  a  notion  of  the  edifice, 
prefacing  it  with  some  notice  of  Halicarnassus, 
and  Caria,  and  its  King  Mausolus.  Mr.  Morrett, 
who  visited  Budrun  in  1795,  and  made  most  dili- 
gent search  for  traces  of  the  Mausoleum,  found  some 
ruins  of  capitals  which  have  the  delicacy  of  finish, 
and  would  seem  to  have  belonged  to  a  structure 
of  the  most  refined  period  of  Grecian  architecture, 
and  might  probably  have  been  remains  of  this 
noted  structure :  and  Sir  Stratford  Canning  re- 
ceived from  the  Sultan  Abd-ul-Megid  some  sculp- 
tured remains,  which  appear  to  have  formed  the 
frieze  of  an  extensive  building.  They  were  found 
among  the  ruins  of  Halicarnassus,  and  are  said  to 
have  belonged   to   the  Mausoleum.     They  consist 


MAUSOLEUM   AT   HALICARNASSUS.         211 

of  eleven  bass-reliefs,  and  are  now  in  the  British 
Museum. 

The  subject  of  the  frieze  is  the  battle  of  the  Greeks 
and  Amazons,  and  Hercules  appears  among  the 
combatants.  In  A.  D.  1522  these  sculptures  were 
discovered  amid  a  heap  of  ruins,  and  were  by  the 
Knights  of  Ehodes  employed  in  the  construction  of 
the  Castle  of  St.  Peter,  at  Halicarnassus, — the  present 
fortress  of  Budrun, — in  the  walls  of  which  edifice 
they  remained  incased  tH]  their  removal  in  1846, 
when  they  were  removed  by  order  of  the  sultan. 
There  is  also  in  the  Museum  a  draped  female  statue, 
wanting  the  head,  which  had  also  been  inserted  in 
the  walls  of  the  fortress ;  two  bass-reliefs  represent- 
ing gladiatorial  combats;  and  two  others,  votive 
offerings  to  Pluto  and  iEsculapius — all  from  the 
same  site. 

Halicarnassus  was  a  chief  city  of  the  Cares,  a 
Dorian  race,  and  the  residence  of  its  sovereigns. 
The*  site  is  now  occupied  by  the  Turkish  port  of 
Budrun,  in  Asia  Minor.  Mausolus,  who  was  one  of 
the  most  powerful  kings,  here  constructed  a  mag- 
nificent palace,  which  was  standing  in  the  time  of 
Pausanias,  about  five  hundred  years  afterward;  it 
was  built  of  brick,  covered  with  slabs  of  Procon- 
nessian  marble,  so  highly  polished  that  they  re- 
flected like  glass.  Mausolus,  who  was  born  at 
Mylasa,  established  himself  here  on  account  of  the 
situation  being  so  well  fortified  by  nature,  and  the 
port  being  admirably  adapted  for  commerce.  The 
site  of  the  city  in  form  resembled  an  amphitheater : 
in  the  lowest  part,  near  the  harbor,  was  the  Forum ; 
up  the  hill,  in  the  middle  of  the  curve,  was  a  large 
square,  in  the  center  of  which  was  afterward  erected 


212  SEVEN   WONDERS   OF  THE  WOULD. 

the  Mausoleum ;  on  the  summit  of  the  hill  stood  the 
Temple  of  Mars,  which  contained  the  colossal  statue 
sculptured  by  Leochares  :  on  the  right  were  the  tem- 
ples of  Yenus  and  Mercury,  near  the  Fountain  of 
Salmasius.  The  palace  on  the  right  commanded  a 
view  of  the  Forum  and  the  harbor,  as  well  as  the 
whole  circuit  of  the  walls. 

The  remains  of  walls  and  square  towers  are  yet 
visible  for  a  distance  of  six  miles  from  the  western 
extremity  of  the  port ;  and  on  the  highest  point  of 
the  eminence  are  some  remains  of  columns  and 
capitals  of  the  Doric  order,  of  gray  marble,  the  site 
indicated  by  Vitruvius  as  that  of  the  Temple  of 
Mars.  A  modern  castle,  at  the  eastern  extremity 
of  the  port,  has  been  constructed  of  materials  of  the 
ancient  structures. 

The  Mausoleum  appears  to  have  been  nearly 
square  in  its  plan,  measuring  one  hundred  and 
thirteen  feet  on  its  sides,  and  ninetv-three  feet  on  its 
ends.  Pithis  and  Satyrus  were  joint  architects  of 
the  building.  It  was  decorated  with  a  peristyle  of 
thirty-six  columns  of  the  Doric  order,  which  are 
said  to  have  been  sixty  feet  high ;  above  this  the 
building  was  carried  up  in  pyramidal  form,  in  three 
terraces.  Between  the  columns  were  statues  of 
Parian  marble,  the  execution  of  which  was  com- 
mitted to  four  different  artists.  Scopas  of  Ephesus 
(whose  statue  of  Venus  was  one  of  the  most  renowned 
with  which  Pome  was  adorned ;  and  there  is  in  the 
British  Museum  a  statue  supposed  to  be  the  iden- 
tical one  of  Yenus)  had  the  east  side ;  Timotheus 
the  south ;  Leochares  the  west ;  and  Bruxis  the 
north.  At  each  angle  of  the  basement  was  a  pro- 
jecting portico,  on  the  top  of  which  was  a  colossal 


MAUSOLEUM 


ro»I7IRSIT7] 


MAUSOLEUM   AT   H ALIO AEN A8SUS.  215 

equestrian  statue.  The  first  terrace  was  ornamented 
in  a  somewhat  similar  manner,  hut  with  hass-reliefs 
instead  of  statuary,  the  different  sides  being  executed 
by  the  same  sculptors  as  the  lower  tier,  and  on  each 
side  was  an  entrance  to  the  interior  of  the  tomb.  At 
two  angles  of  the  second  terrace  were  octagonal 
towers,  crowned  by  cones  of  colossal  height,  sculp- 
tured throughout  in  bass-relief,  and  along  the  sides 
of  the  terrace  were  planted  cypresses  and  other  for- 
est trees.  From  the  third  terrace  rose  the  crown 
of  the  pyramid,  and  on  its  apex  was  placed  a  colos- 
sal group  in  marble,  of  Phaeton  driving  in  a  chariot 
with  four  horses. 

The  whole  structure  was  on  a  platform,  ascended 
by  steps,  and  was  built  of  the  most  costly  marbles. 
The  edifice  was  throughout  profusely  yet  classically 
enriched  with  ornament,  the  entire  decorations  being 
in  the  richest  style  of  Grecian  art.  The  entire 
height  was  one  hundred  and  forty  feet.  — 

The  expense  of  the  monument  was  so  immense 
that  it  gave  occasion  to  the  philosopher  Anaxagoras 
to  exclaim,  when  he  saw  it,  "  How  much  money  is 
changed  into  stone ! "  Artemisia  did  not  live  to  see 
it  finished,  dying  two  years  after  her  husband. 

Artemisia,  besides  all  this  display  of  her  affection 
for  her  husband,  invited  all  the  literary  men  of  the 
age  to  a  competition  for  a  large  reward,  which  she 
offered  for  the  best  elegy  on  the  virtues  and  ex- 
cellences of  Mausolus :  the  prize  was  awarded  to 
Theopompus. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  tombs  of  ancient 
times,  that  has  withstood  the  destruction  of  twenty- 
four  centuries  of  Vandalism,  barbarity,  and  neglect, 
is  the  tomb  of  Cyrus,  the  founder  of  the  Persian 


216  SEVEN   WONDERS   OF  THE   WORLD. 

empire ;  which  is  described  by  the  historian  Arriart 
"as  a  small  house  with  a  roof,  that  stood  in  the 
royal  garden  at  Passagardse."  Passagardse,  now 
Murghab,  is  about  fifty  miles  from  the  ruins  of 
Persepolis.  The  pyramid  on  which  it  stands  is  forty- 
five  feet  square,  and  consists  of  seven  irregular 
courses  of  stone,  the  height  of  which  is  eighteen  feet. 
On  this  is  situated  the  tomb,  a  small  house,  twenty- 
one  by  seventeen  feet  outside,  the  center  of  which 
is  occupied  by  a  cell  ten  and  a  half  feet  by  seven 
feet,  which  once  contained  the  golden  coffin,  the 
bed,  the  cloak,  and  other  royal  robes  and  regalia  of 
Cyrus.  It  is  surmounted  by  a  pedimented  roof, 
similar  to  that  of  a  Greek  temple.  The  beauty  of 
the  white  marble  of  which  it  is  constructed  is  yet 
preserved.  Around  the  whole  there  once  stood  a 
range  of  columns,  portions  of  which  are  yet  stand- 
ing, though  for  what  purpose,  or  what  they  support- 
ed, is  not  apparent. 

The  chamber,  though  dismantled  and  injured  by 
barbarian  hands,  still  retains  the  exquisite  polish  and 
whiteness  of  the  marble  sides  and  flooring;  and 
though  it  has  sustained  great  injury  from  man,  on 
account  of  the  simplicity  of  its  form,  and  the  solidity 
of  the  marble,  it  yet  seems  calculated  to  withstand 
the  accidents  of  nature  till  the  last  shock, — 

The  wreck  of  matter  and  the  crush  of  worlds. 

The  recent  discoveries  in  Lycia  have  made  us 
acquainted  with  the  sepulchers  of  the  Lycians ;  and 
we  find  the  hewers  of  the  stone  impressed  on  the 
material  the  character  of  the  habitation  once  ten- 
anted by  the  occupier  of  the  tomb, — no  doubt  with 
the  intention  of  conveying  to  after-times  a  resem- 


MAUSOLEUM   AT   HALIC ARN ASSUS.  217 

blance  of  what  was  dear  to  the  deceased  when  liv- 
ing. They  certainly  show  an  abode  for  the  dead  of 
a  far  more  cheerful  character  than  the  pyramid  or 
mound  of  earth. 

Among  the  more  remarkable  tombs  of  the  an- 
cients,  although  unlike  the  mausoleums,  may  be 
noticed  the  sepulcher  carved  out  of  the  living  rock, 
by  order  of  Darius,  the  warrior  and  conqueror  king 
of  Persia,  for  the  reception  of  his  own  remains ;  and 
which  is  existing  to  this  day  at  Persepolis,  after  a 
duration  of  twenty-three  centuries. 

The  portico  is  supported  by  four  columns  twenty 
feet  in  height,  and  in  the  center  is  the  form  of  a 
doorway,  seemingly  the  entrance  to  the  interior,  but 
it  is  solid ;   the   entablature   is   of  chaste   design. 
Above  the  portico  there  is  what  may  be  termed  an 
ark,  supported  by  two  rows  of  figures,  about  the 
size  of  life,  bearing  it  on  their  uplifted  hands,  and  at 
each  angle  a  griffin,  an  ornament  which  is  very 
frequent  at  Persepolis.     On  this  stage  stands  the 
king  with  a  bent  bow  in  his  hand,  worshiping  the 
sun,  whose  image  is  seen  above  the  altar  that  stands 
before  him,  while  above  his  head  hovers  his  ferou- 
her,  or  disembodied  spirit.     This  is  the  good  genius, 
that  in  Persian   sculpture    accompanies   the   king 
when  performing  any  important  act.     On  each  side 
the  ark  are  nine  niches,  each  containing  a  statue  in 
bass-relief.     No  other  portion  of  the  tomb  was  in- 
tended to  be  seen,  excepting  the  sculptured  front ; 
and  we  must  therefore  conclude,  that  the  entrance 
was  kept  secret,  and  the  avenues  were,  by  subter- 
raneous passages,  so  constructed  that  none  but  the 
privileged  could  find  their  way.     We  are  told  by 
Theophrastus,  that  Darius  was  buried  in  a  coffer  of 


218  SEVEN   WONDERS   OP  THE   WOKLI). 

Egyptian  alabaster ;  and  also  that  the  early  Persians 
buried  their  dead  entire,  preserving  the  bodies  with 
honey  or  wax. 

From  the  account  we  gather  in  the  description, 
given  by  Diodorus  Siculus,  of  the  mausoleum  erect- 
ed by  Alexander  the  Great  in  honor  of  Hephaestion, 
it  must  have  far  exceeded  that  of  Mausolus  in  extrav- 
agant decoration.  It  was  built  in  stories'  lessening 
toward  the  top.  The  lower  apartment  was  adorned 
by  the  gilded  rostra,  or  beaks  of  two  hundred  and 
forty  ships ;  the  next  tier  was  enriched  by  a  profu- 
sion of  sculptured  figures  of  the  gods  of  the  Grecian 
mythology ;  the  third,  various  animals,  centaurs,  &c. ; 
and  on  the  summit  were  bronze  statues  of  sirens, 
made  hollow,  in  order  that  the  singers  who  chanted 
dirges  might  be  concealed  within  them. 

Hephsestion  was  a  Macedonian,  famous  for  his 
intimacy  with  Alexander.  He  accompanied  the 
conqueror  in  his  Asiatic  campaigns,  and  was  so 
faithful  and  attached  to  him,  that  Alexander  often 
observed,  that  Craterus  was  the  friend  of  the.  kiss, 
but  that  Hephasstion  was  the  friend  of  Alexander. 
It  is  said  by  some  that  he  died  through  excess  of 
drinking  or  eating.  Alexander  was  so  inconsolable 
at  the  death  of  this  faithful  subject,  that  he  shed 
tears  at  the  intelligence,  and  ordered  the  sacred  fire 
to  be  extinguished,  which  had  never  been  done  but 
at  the  death  of  a  Persian  monarch.  The  physician, 
who  attended  Hephsestion  in  his  illness,  was  accused 
of  negligence,  and  by  the  king's  order  inhumanly 
put  to  death.  The  body  was  intrusted  to  the  care  of 
Perdiccas,  and  honored  by  the  most  magnificent  fu- 
neral at  Babylon.  He  was  so  like  the  king  in  features 
and  stature,  that  he  was  often  saluted  as  Alexander. 


MAUSOLEUM    AT    II  ALIO  AEN  AS  SUS  .  219 

In  the  remains  of  ancient  Rome,  the  more  remark- 
able among  the  mausoleums  are  : — 

The  mausoleum  to  Augustus  Caesar  was  a  struc- 
ture of  magnitude  as  well  as  grandeur :  it  was  cir- 
cular in  form,  and  in  plan  similar  to  that  of  Hadrian. 
It  stood  in  the  Campus  Martius,  where  the  remains 
yet  exist  in  the  two  concentric  circles,  forming  the 
first  and  second  stories  of  the  building,  and  the  vault- 
ed chambers  between,  which  supported  the  first  or 
lowest  terrace.  There  were  three  terraces,  and  con- 
sequently four  stages  in  the  building,  gradually  de- 
creasing in  diameter,  the  uppermost  of  which  was 
crowned  by  a  colossal  statue  of  the  emperor,  in 
bronze.  In  it  were  deposited  the  remains  of  Mar- 
cellus,  the  nephew  of  Augustus,  and  those  of  Julius 
Caesar,  Augustus,  and  Germanicus.  By  Strabo  we 
are  told,  "  the  foundations  were  of  white  marble, 
and  covered  with  evergreens ; "  by  which  we  under- 
stand it  was  built  in  terraces,  as  he  further  says, 
"  the  statue  was  elevated  four  hundred  feet  from  the 
foundations,  on  a  pedestal,  lifting  it  above  the  ever- 
green forest  which  covered  the  conical  structure." 
From  traces  that  yet  remain  in  the  ruin,  it  is  con- 
jectured that  there  was  originally  an  advanced  por- 
tico attached  to  the  building,  forming  the  entrance. 

The  mausoleum  to  the  honor  of  the  Emperor  Ha- 
drian is  a  work  of  the  most  massive  construction, 
and  originally  presented  an  unbroken  circular  mass 
of  building,  erected  upon  a  much  larger  square  base- 
ment, lofty  in  itself,  yet  of  moderate  height  in  pro- 
portion to  the  superstructure,  the  latter  being  about 
twice  as  high  as  the  former.  This  nearly  solid  ro- 
tunda was  originally  coated  with  Parian  marble, 

and  had  on  its  summit  numerous  fine  statues,  which 

14 


220         SEVEN   WONDERS   OF  THE  WORLD. 

were  broken  to  pieces,  and  the  fragments  hurled 
down  by  the  soldiers  of  Belisarius  upon  the  Goths, 
who  attempted  to  take  the  building  by  storm.  The 
uppermost  stage  of  the  edifice  assumed  the  form  of 
a  circular  battlemented  temple,  whose  diameter  was 
one-third  of  the  larger  circle.  Of  this  stage  not  a 
vestige  remains.  Tradition  asserts,  that  the  peristyle 
consisted  of  the  twenty-four  beautiful  marble  Corinth- 
ian columns,  which  afterward  decorated  the  basil- 
ica of  St.  Paul ;  and  that  the  dome  of  the  edifice 
was  surmounted  by  a  colossal  pine-apple  in  bronze, 
now  placed  in  the  gardens  of  the  Vatican. 

Procopius  says:  "The  tomb  of  Hadrian  stands 
without  the  Porta  Aurelia,  at  about  a  stone's  throw 
from  the  walls ;  and  is  undoubtedly  well  worth  see- 
ing, for  it  is  built  of  Parian  marble.  The  square 
stones  of  which  the  basement  is  built  are  joined 
alternately  to  each  other  without  any  cement,  and  it 
is  divided  into  four  sides  of  equal  dimensions ;  each 
is  of  such  a  length,  that  a  stone  thrown  from  one 
angle  would  just  reach  the  other.  In  height  it  sur- 
passes the  walls  of  the  city.  There  are  on  it  statues 
of  men  and  horses,  finished  with  wonderful  skill,  of 
Parian  marble." 

It  received  its  present  appellation  of  the  Castle 
of  St.  Angelo  from  Pope  Gregory  the  Great,  who,  it 
is  said,  in  crossing  the  bridge,  as  he  went  to  offer  up 
prayers  for  the  deliverance  of  Rome  from  a  pesti- 
lence then  raging,  beheld,  on  the  summit  of  the 
tomb  of  Hadrian,  the  figure  of  an  angel  waving  a 
sword.  In  commemoration  of  this  vision,  the  brazen 
statue  which  crowns  the  building  was  erected,  and 
the  name  given  by  which  it  is  at  present  distin- 
guished. 


MAUSOLEUM   AT   II  ALIO  AKN  ASSUS  .         221 

The  tomb  of  the  Scipios,  discovered  in  1780,  is 
one  of  the  most  ancient  of  the  Roman  mausoleums. 
It  is  cut  out  of  tufa,  a  light  porous  volcanic  stone  ; 
and  consists  of  a  series  of  dark  chambers,  in  one  of 
which  was  an  elegant  sarcophagus  of  Peperino,  sur- 
mourited  with  a  bust  of  the  same  material,  which 
contained  the  ashes  of  L.  Scipio  Barbatus :  the  sar- 
cophagus has  been  removed  to  the  Vatican. 

The  tomb  of  Caecelia  Metella,  erected  on  an  emi- 
nence on  the  side  of  the  .Appian  Way,  is  of  circular 
form,  on  a  square  basement ;  it  is  constructed  with 
magnificent  blocks  of  travertine,  or  concrete  lime- 
stone. This  mausoleum  is  surmounted  with  a  beau- 
tifully-decorated frieze  and  cornice,  and  from  it  is 
supposed  to  have  risen  a  dome  or  conical-formed 
roof,  now  destroyed.  A  sarcophagus  was  found 
here,  which  was  removed,  and  placed  in  the  Farnese 
Palace. 

The  tomb  of  St.  Constantia,  erected  probably  by 
Constantine  the  Great,  to  contain  the  bodies  or 
ashes  of  his  sister  and  his  daughter,  which  were 
placed  in  a  magnificent  sarcophagus  of  porphyry, 
now  in  the  museum  of  the  Vatican.  The  edifice 
was  turned  into  a  church  by  Pope  Alexander  IV. 
The  style  is  rather  remarkable  for  its  arrangement 
of  double  Corinthian  columns,  supporting  a  dome, 
and  also  for  its  mosaics. 

Although  the  term  "  mausoleum "  is  more  gen- 
erally applicable  to  detached  buildings,  yet,  from 
its  magnificence,  the  tomb  of  the  Emperor  Maxi- 
milian,' in  the  Franciscan  Church  at  Inspruck,  the 
capital  of  the  Tyrol,  deserves  notice  here,  among 
even  the  extravagant  expenditure  of  the  ancients. 

This  majestic  tomb  is  placed  in  the  center  of  the 


222  SEVEN   WONDEKS   OF  THE   "WORLD. 

middle  aisle  of  the  church,  upon  a  platform  ap- 
proached by  steps  of  red  marble.     The  sides  of  the 
tomb  are  divided  into  twenty -four  compartments,  of 
the  finest  Carrara  marble,  on  which  are  represented, 
in   bass-relief,  the  most   interesting  events  of  the 
emperor's  warlike  and  prosperous  career.    The  work- 
manship of  these  tablets  is  exquisite ;  and,  taken  in 
connection  with  the  lofty  deeds  they  record,  are  the 
most  princely  decorations  ever(  seen.     Each  tablet 
contributing  to  the  splendid  biography  which  the 
sculptures  exhibit,  is  in  size  two  feet  four  inches  by 
one  foot  eight  inches;  and  every  object  contained 
in  them  is  in  most  perfect  proportion,  while  the  ex- 
quisite finish  of  the  heads  and  draperies  requires  a 
magnifying-glass  to  do  it  justice.     The  tomb  is  sur- 
mounted by  a  colossal  figure  in  bronze  of  the  em- 
peror, kneeling  in  the  act  of  prayer ;  and  around  it 
are  four  allegorical  figures  of  smaller  size,  also  in 
bronze. 

But,  marvelous  as  is  the  elaborate  beauty  of  this 
work,  it  is  far  from  being  the  most  remarkable  fea- 
ture of  this  imperial  mausoleum.  Hanged  in  two 
long  lines,  as  if  to  guard  it,  stand  twenty-eight 
colossal  statues  in  bronze,  of  whom  twenty  are 
kings  and  princes,  alliances  of  the  house  of  Haps- 
burgh,  and  eight  their  stately  dames.  Anything 
more  impressive  than  the  appearance  of  these  tall 
dark  guardians  of  the  tomb — some  clad  in  regal 
robes,  some  cased  in  armor,  and  all  finished  with 
•  the  greatest  skill — it  would  be  difficult  to  imagine. 

In  the.  death-like  stillness  of  the  church,  the 
visitor  who,  for  the  first  time,  contemplates  the 
tomb  and  its  gloomy  guards,  is  struck  by  a  feeling 
of  awe,  approaching  to  terror.     The  statues,  with 


MAUSOLEUM   AT   H  ALIC  ARN  AS  SUS.         223 

life-like  individuality  of  attidude  and  expression, — 
each  solemn,  mournful,  dignified,  and  graceful ; 
and  all  seeming  to  dilate  before  the  eye  into  enor- 
mous dimensions,  and,  as  if  framed  to  scare  intrud- 
ers, endowed  by  a  power  more  than  mortal,  to  keep 
watch  and  ward  around  the  mighty  dead.  They 
appear  like  an  eternal  procession  of  mourners,  who 
shall  cease  not,  while  earth  endures,  to  gaze  on, 
mourn  over,  and  protect  the  relics  of  him  who  was 
the  glory  of  their  noble  race  on  earth. 

Hindoostan  abounds  with  mausoleums,  which  even 
in  that  land  of  "barbaric  gold"  are  marvelous  for 
their  splendor  and  extent.  The  most  remarkable 
for  its  beauty  is  at  Agra,  called  Taj  Mahal,  or  Crown 
of  Edifices.  It  was  erected  by  Shah  Jehan  about 
1650,  as  the  burial-place  of  his  favorite  wife,  Noor 
Jehan.  The  mausoleum  is  entirely  of  white  marble, 
and  raised  on  elevated  terraces  of  white  and  yellow 
marble.  Within  the  building  is  a  central  hall,  which 
contains  the  tombs  of  the  begum  and  Shah  Jehan 
himself;  and  around  the  hall  are  several  apartments 
and  corridors.  The  construction  is  said  to  have  cost 
£750,000.  The  country  round  Agra  is  a  perfect 
desert,  and  visitors,  after  winding  their  way  through 
an  arid  plaia,  diversified  only  by  sand-heaps  and 
crumbling  masses  of  stone,  come,  as  if  by  enchant- 
ment, upon  the  luxuriant  gardens  that  still  adorn 
the  mausoleum  where  Shah  Jehan  and  the  beautiful 
partner  of  his  throne  sleep  in  undisturbed  repose. 
The  grounds  attached  to  the  building  are  kept  by 
the  British  government  in. most  excellent  order; 
and  being  watered  dayly,  during  the  dry  season, 
the  trees  and  flowers  are  clothed  with  perpetual 
verdure. 


224  SEVEN   WONDERS    OF   THE   WORLD. 

At  Sasseram,  in  Northern  India,  rises  in  majestic 
solemnity  and  sober  plainness  the  dark  gray  pile 
covering  the  remains  of  Shere  Shah,  who  did  not 
leave  the  care  of  his  ashes  to  posterity,  but  con- 
structed his  mausoleum  during  the  most  flourishing 
period  of  his  reign.  The  mausoleum  emerges  from 
the  center  of  an  immense  reservoir  of  water,  four 
hundred  yards  square.  It  is  surrounded  by  a  high 
embankment,  and  on  each  side  is  a  flight  of  stone 
steps,  affording  access  to  the  tank,  The  tomb 
stands  on  an  elevated  platform,  at  the  angles  of 
which  are  low  cupolaed  towers.  The  tomb  itself 
is  octagonal  in  form,  consisting  of  two  stories  be- 
neath the  dome,  each  having  a  flat  terrace  running 
round  it,  and  adorned  with  turrets  open  at  the  side 
and  covered  at  the  top.  This  mausoleum,  although 
wanting  the  gorgeous  beauty  of  the  Taj  Mahal, 
commands  admiration  for  the  vast  and  massive 
grandeur  of  its  construction:  but  time  and  neglect 
— the  inevitable  destroyers — will,  ere  long,  sink  in 
ruins  even  the  solidity  of  the  building ;  the  redun- 
dance of  foliage,  now  springing  through  the  inter- 
stices of  the  basement,  is  fast  undermining  the 
foundations. 

At  Bejapore,  the  capital  of  a  considerable  province 
in  the  Deccan,  are  the  ruins  of  the  mausoleum  of 
Ibrahim  Adil  Shah,  who  died  in  1626  :  the  tomb  is 
fifty-seven  feet  square,  and  consists  of  a  plain  cham- 
ber, surrounded  by  a  verandah  twelve  feet  broad 
and  twenty-two  feet  high.  The  exterior  is  most 
elaborately  ornamented  ;  the  ceiling  of  the  verandah 
is  covered  with  passages  from  the  Koran,  sculptured 
in  bass-relief.  The  whole  of  the  town  of  Bejapore 
may  be  termed  a  city  of  tombs;   many  of  these 


MAUSOLEUM   AT   H  ALIC  AKN  ASSUS  .         225 

buildings  being  in  good  preservation,  the  dwellings 
of  tlie  former  inhabitants  being  entirely  in  ruins. 

The  taste  for  useless  splendor  and  posthumous 
fame,  so  remarkably  exemplified  in  the  tombs  of 
Hindoostan,  is  displayed  to  its  fullest  extent  in  the 
mausoleum  of  Mohammed  Shah,  called  the  Burra 
Gumbooz,  or  Great  Dome,  which  was  constructed 
in  the  lifetime  of  the  monarch,  and  under  his  own 
auspices.  Though  somewhat  heavy  in  its  structure, 
its  amazing  size,  and  the  symmetry  of  its  propor- 
tions, fill  the  mind  with  reverence :  from  whatever 
point  of  distance  it  is  surveyed,  its  surpassing 
magnitude  reduces  all  surrounding  objects  to  com- 
parative insignificance,  while  its  grave  and  solemn 
character  assimilates  with  the  desolate  grandeur  of 
the  ruins  which  it  overtops. 

The  Burra  Gumbooz  exceeds  the  dome  of  St. 
Paul's  Cathedral  in  London  in  diameter,  and  it  is 
little  inferior  to  that  of  St.  Peter's  at  Eome:  it 
crowns  a  quadrangular  building,  consisting  of  a 
single  hall,  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  square,  and, 
including  the  cupola,  one  hundred  and  sixty  feet  in 
height.  At  each  angle  of  the  building  are  four 
octagonal  towers,  surmounted  by  domes,  with  spiral 
staircases  to  each.  The  sarcophagus  of  Mohammed 
Shah  is  placed  on  a  raised  platform  of  granite,  in  the 
center  of  the  hall :  on  one  side  are  the  tombs  of  his 
son  and  daughter-in-law ;  on  the  other,  those  of  his 
wife,  his  favorite  dancing-girl,  and  his  son :  the  whole 
are  covered  with  holy  earth  brought  from  Mecca, 
mixed  with  sandal-wood  dust.  Over  the  sarcophagus 
was  formerly  a  canopy  of  solid  silver,  which  was 
stolen  by  the  Mahrattas. '  The  walls  are  embellished 
by  passages  from  the  Koran  in  alto-relievo ;    the 


226         SEVEN    WONDERS   OF   THE   WORLD. 

characters,  being  raised  and  gilded  upon  a  deep-blue 
ground  of  enamel,  formed  by  a  liquid  coating  of 
lapis-lazuli,  produce  a  very  fine  effect,  and  evince 
considerable  taste  and  judgment. 

At  Wentworth,  in  Yorkshire,  the  princely  seat  of 
the  Earl  Fitzwilliam,  there  is  a  magnificent  mauso- 
leum, erected  by  the  fourth  earl,  in  honor  of  his 
uncle,  the  Marquis  of  Rockingham.  This  superb 
monument,  which  is  built  of  a  fine  freestone,  stands 
in  an  elevated  situation,  near  the  grand  entrance  into 
the  park.  Its  height  is  ninety  feet,  and  it  is  built 
in  three  stories :  the  basement  is  a  square  Doric ; 
the  next  story  is  Ionic,  having  each  of  its  sides  open- 
ing into  an  arch,  and  disclosing  an  elegant  sarcopha- 
gus in  the  center ;  the  upper  story  is  surmounted  by 
a  cupola  supported  by  twelve  Ionic  columns.  The 
interior  of  the  basement  rises  into  a  dome  supported 
by  eight  columns,  and  in  the  center  is  a  statue  of 
the  marquis,  size  of  life,  by  Nollekens.  Round  this 
apartment  are  marble  busts  of  the  marquis's  asso- 
ciates. 

At  Castle  Howard,  in  Yorkshire,  the  superb  seat 
of  the  Earl  of  Carlisle,  there  is  an  elegant  mausoleum, 
designed  by  TIawksmoor;  it  is  a  noble  circular 
edifice,  in  the  Roman  Doric  style,  elevated  upon  a 
basement.  Over  the  vault  is  a  beautiful  chapel, 
with  a  dome  supported  by  eight  Corinthian  columns : 
this  apartment  is  singularly  light  and  beautiful.  The 
height  of  the  structure  is  ninety  feet,  the  diameter 
is  over  fifty  feet.  The  flooring  of  the  interior  is  in- 
laid with  various  marbles. 

On  an  elevated  situation  at  the  south  end  of  the 
park  of  Cobham  Hall,  in  Kent,  the  seat  of  the  Earl 
of  Darnley,  is  a  splendid  mausoleum,  erected  by 


MAUSOLEUM   AT   II ALIC  ARN  ASSUS  .  227 

direction  of  the  fourth  earl,  designed  to  remain  for 
the  sepulture  of  the  family.  The  basement,  which 
is  rusticated,  contains  a  vault  and  sarcophagus,  and 
is  surrounded  by  recesses  for  interments.  The  prin- 
cipal apartment  was  intended  for  a  chapel,  but  is 
not  so  used  ;  it  is  crowned  by  a  dome,  supported  by 
eight  Corinthian  columns.  The  exterior  has  four 
wings  with  duplicated  columns,  sustaining  sarcopha- 
gi, and  is  terminated  by  a  pyramid. 

At  Brocklesby  Park,  in  Lincolnshire,  the  seat  of 
the  Earl  of  Yarborough,  is  an  elegant  building, 
erected  by  direction  of  the  late  earl,  after  the  de- 
signs and  under  the  superintendence  of  the  late 
James  "Wyatt,  intended  for  the  mausoleum  of  the 
family.  The  structure  is  erected  on  a  tumulus,  once 
a  place  of  sepulture,  as  appears  from  numerous 
Roman  sepulchral  urns  that  had  been  found  there. 
The  building  is  of  circular  form,  having  fluted  Doric 
columns,  supporting  a  rich  entablature,  and  sur- 
mounted by  a  dome,  which  is  surrounded  by  an  open 
balustrade.  The  interior  is  divided  into  four  com- 
partments by  eight  fluted  Corinthian  columns,  sup- 
porting a  highly-decorated  and  lofty  dome.  Beneath 
the  chamber  or  chapel  is  a  vault  with  recesses :  this 
is  also  divided  by  pillars,  and  has  a  circular  sarcoph- 
agus in  the  center. 

The  tombs  of  the  Memlouk  kings  of  Egypt,  with- 
out the  walls  of  Cairo,  are  splendid  specimens  of 
Saracenic  architecture  ;  and  it  is  much  to  be  regret- 
ted that  they  are  by  neglect  fast  falling  to  ruin : 
they  were  erected  between  A.  D.  1382  and  1517. 

At  Thebes,  the  ancient  capital  of  Egypt,  besides 
the  vast  remains  of  temples,  palaces,  and  dwellings, 
the  ruins  of  which  are  a  mile  in  diameter,  in  what 


228    SEVEN  WONDERS  OF  THE  WORLD. 

may  be  called  the  sacred  valley  are  the  celebrated 
tombs  of  the  Kings  of  Egypt.  The  rocks  that  sur- 
round the  sacred  ground  can  be  visited  only  by  a 
single  natural  entrance,  that  is  formed  like  a  gate- 
way, or  by  the  craggy  paths  across  the  mountains. 
The  tombs  are  all  cut  out  of  the  solid  rock,  which 
is  Of  hard  calcareous  stone,  as  white  as  it  is  possible 
for  stone  to  be.  The  tombs  in  general  consist  of  a 
long  square  passage,  which  leads  to  a  staircase,  some- 
times with  a  gallery  at  each  side  of  it,  and  other 
chambers.  Advancing  further,  we  come  to  wider 
apartments,  and  other  passages  and  stairs,  and  at 
last  into  a  large  hall,  where  the  great  sarcophagus 
lay  which  contained  the  remains  of  the  kings.  Some 
of  these  tombs  are  quite  open,  and  others  incum- 
bered with  rubbish  at  the  entrance. 

A  tomb  that  was  opened  by  Belzoni  is  curious,  as 
being  a  specimen  of  a  sepulcher  in  an  unfinished 
state.  It  consisted  only  of  a  passage  about  seventy- 
five  feet  long  and  ten  wide,  the  walls  of  which  were 
plastered,  with  fine  white  and  handsome  figures  on 
them,  painted  in  an  excellent  style,  and  in  a  high 
state  of  preservation :  the  end  of  the  passage  was 
evidently  unfinished.  Another  tomb,  into  which  he 
found  his  way  by  excavation,  had  evidently  been 
entered  by  visitors  before  ;  a  brick  wall  which  closed 
the  end  of  the  first  passage  had  been  broken  through, 
and  in  the  chamber  at  the  extremity  of  the  tomb 
two  female  mummies,  quite  naked,  were  lying  on 
the  floor. 

The  great  tomb  which  Belzoni  opened  in  this  val- 
ley is  one  of  the  most  interesting  discoveries  that 
have  been  made  in  Egypt.  After  proceeding  a 
considerable  distance,  he  came  to  a  well  thirty  feet 


MAUSOLEUM    AT   H ALICARN ASSUS.         229 

deep,  and  fourteen  feet  by  twelve  feet  three  inches 
wide,  which  he  supposes  to  have  been  constructed 
for  the  purpose  of  receiving  the  rain-water,  and 
keeping  the  rest  of  the  chambers  dry :  for  it  should 
be  borne  in  mind  that  heavy  rains  fall  at  Thebes 
once  or  twice  a  year ;  and  an  immense  quantity  of 
rubbish  is  carried  down  from  the  mountains  into  the 
valley  of  the  kings'  tombs,  which  has  actually  made 
the  ground  higher  than  the  entrance  to  most  of  them. 
The  long  passage  leading  to  the  well  already  men- 
tioned, slopes  toward  it  from  the  entrance ;  and  thus, 
whatever  rain  found  its  way  into  the  entrance  of 
the  tomb  would  be  received  by  this  well.  At  first 
there  appeared  to  be  no  passage  beyond  the  well ; 
but  on  the  side  opposite  to  where  Belzoni  stood,  on 
first  approaching  this  shaft,  he  saw  a  hole  in  the 
wall,  which  some  previous  adventurer,  Greek  or 
Roman,'  must  have  made:  for  the  Egyptians  had 
plastered  the  whole  up,  giving  it  an  appearance 
just  as  if  the  well  was  the  termination  of  the  tomb. 
After  passing  through  the  little  aperture,  Belzoni 
came  to  a  beautiful  chamber,  twenty-seven  feet  six 
inches  by  twenty -five  feet  ten  inches,  in  which  were 
four  pillars,  each  three  feet  square.  This  room, 
which  Belzoni  calls  the  entrance-hall,  was  painted 
like  the  rest  of  the  chambers  and  the  approaches  to 
it,  already  described.  It  would  be  impossible  to 
give  any  clear  description  of  this  tomb  without  a 
plan.  Besides  numerous  corridors  and  staircases, 
it  contained  six  large  rooms,  and  either  five  or  seven 
small  ones — we  cannot  tell  which,  for  Belzoni's 
words  are  not  exact.  In  the  last  great  chamber  he 
found  the  carcass  of  a  bull  embalmed  with  asphal- 
tum;   and  also  a  number  of  those  small  wooden 


230         SEVEN    WONDERS   OF  THE   WORLD. 

mummy-shaped  figures,  six  or  eight  inches  long, 
which  are  covered  with  hieroglyphics  and  pitch. 
But  the  greatest  curiosity  was  found  in  one  of  the 
other  chambers,  which  has  an  arched  roof,  cut,  we 
must  suppose,  like  the  rest  of  the  chamber,  out  of 
the  solid  rock :  this  was  a  sarcophagus  of  white 
arragonite, — nine  feet  five  inches  long,  three  feet 
seven  inches  wide,  and  two  inches  thick.  .It  is 
translucent  when  a  candle  is  put  into  it.  Both  the 
inside  and  outside  are  sculptured  with  figures  not 
more  than  two  inches  high.  The  cover  was  found 
in  digging  for  the  entrance  into  the  tomb  on  the 
outside,  where  it  had  been  carried  by  some  former 
rifler  of  the  sepulcher ;  but,  unfortunately,  it  was 
broken  into  several  pieces.  This  beautiful  and 
unique  specimen  of  Egyptian  art  is  now  in  the 
Museum  of  Sir  John  Soane,  Lincoln's-Inn  Fields. 

Under  the  sarcophagus  there  was  a  staircase 
communicating  with  a  subterraneous  passage  lead- 
ing downward,  three  hundred  feet  in  length  ;  at  the 
end  of  which  was  found  a  great  quantity  of  bats' 
dung,  which,  together  with  the  rubbish  that  had 
fallen  in,  choked  up  the  passage.  From  this  it 
would  seem  probable  that  there  is  now  an  entrance 
into  the  sarcophagus-chamber  in  the  direction  of 
this  subterraneous  gallery,  though  it  may  be  almost 
filled  up  with  broken  stone  and  filth.  Belzoni,  in- 
deed, ascertained  that  the  excavation  extends,  as  far 
as  he  explored  it,  halfway  through  the  mountain  to 
the  upper  part  of  the  valley  ;  and  he  conjectures 
that  it  formed  another  entrance  into  the  tomb, 
though  this  could  not  have  been  the  case  after  the 
sarcophagus  was  placed  there,  as  there  was  a  wall 
built  just  under  the  sarcophagus,  which  completely 


MAUSOLEUM   AT   H  ALICABN  ASSUS  .  231 

cut  off  all  communication  between  the  chamber 
and  the  subterraneous  passage.  Also  large  blocks  of 
stone  were  placed  horizontally  under  the  sarcophagus 
and  on  a  level  with  the  floor,  apparently  for  the  pur- 
pose of  hiding  this  gallery.  This  tomb  faces  the 
north-east,  and  the  direction  of  the  whole  runs  due 
south-west. 

The  character  and  design  of  some  of  the  paintings 
in  this  tomb,  which  Belzoni  opened,  possess  the  very 
deepest  interest.  The  entrances,  as  we  have  said, 
are  adorned  with  various  kinds  of  paintings  of  minor 
interest.  In  the  hall,  or  first  chamber,  there  are 
three  tiers  of  figures  on  the  right  side,  which,  Bel- 
zoni remarks,  is  the  general  system  in  this  tomb. 
On  the  left  side  is  a  representation  of  a  procession. 
The  principal  personage  appears  to  be  the  king  on 
his  throne,  with  the  regal  dress,  and  the  serpent  on 
his  forehead,  the  emblem  of  kingly  power.  His 
face  is  turned  toward  the  procession,  which  termi- 
nates with  a  row  of  seventeen  figures,  consisting  of 
people  of  four  different  nations,  in  groups  of  four, 
painted  red,  white,  black,  and  then  white.  The 
rear  is  brought  up  by  a  hawk-headed  figure,  the 
emblem  of  the  sun.  The  two  first  figures  in  the 
procession  are  imperfect ;  the  two  next,  however, 
are  cmite  distinct,  and  undoubtedly  represent  an 
Asiatic  people  of  the  white  class  :  this  is  clear  from 
the  profile  of  the  face,  the  beard,  the  hair,  and  the 
complexion.  Each  figure  has  a  feather  in  his  head 
by  way  of  ornament,  and  a  long  lock  coming  down 
on  one  side.  Their  clothing  reaches  from  the  neck 
to  the  feet — a  long  white  robe,  the  ground  of  which 
is  diversified  by  a  cruciform  kind  of  pattern,  such 
as  we  see  sometimes  in  our  own  printed  calicoes. 


232  SEVEN   WONDERS   OF  THE  WORLD. 

Belzoni  calls  them  Persians :  Heeren  calls  them 
Babylonians.  For  the  present  we  feel  inclined  to 
leave  them  without  a  name.  Next  we  see  four 
Ethiopians,  whose  negro  profile  and  thick  hair  can- 
not be  for  a  moment  mistaken :  they  have  rings  in 
their  ears.  Their  white  clothing  extends  from  the 
waist  downward,  and  is  attached  to  a  belt  which 
goes  over  the  left  shoulder.  The  next  group  con- 
sists of  four  Jews,  with  long  beards,  thick  hair,  and 
a  kind  of  bandage  tied  round  the  head  and  fastened 
in  a  knot,  one  of  the  ends  of  which  falls  below  the 
ear.  It  is  absolutely  impossible  for  any  modern 
draughtsman  to  represent  more  faithfully  the  re- 
markable physiognomy  of  this  nation.  The  last 
group  of  four  are  called  by  Belzoni  Egyptians  re- 
turning from  captivity,  in  conformity,  to  his  notion 
of  this  being  a  procession  of  conquered  people.  But 
their  thick  bushy  hair,  short  beards,  and  profile, 
seem  to  us  to  show  that  they  belong  to  a  different 
race,  probably  the  Nubian ;  though  we  are  informed, 
on  good  authority,  that  these  figures  are  similar  to 
the  figures  of  Egyptians  throughout  this  tomb.  It 
seems  to  lis  that  Iieeren's  idea  of  this  being  a  pro- 
cession of  embassadors  of  different  nations  is  a 
more  probable  hypothesis  than  Belzoni's.  The  usual 
scenes  of  triumph ;  the  hero  in  his  war-chariot ; 
the  prisoners  bound,  and  raving  in  the  agonies  of 
despair,  as  on  the  walls  of  Karnak ; — these  and  all 
the  other  marks  of  cruel  triumph  are  wanting  in 
this  picture  of  the  tombs.  Here  all  is  tranquillity 
and  peace. 

One  of  the- tombs  in  the  Biban  el  Molouk  has  been 
called  the  Harpers'  Tomb,  from  the  figures  of  the 
harpers  in  it,  which  were  first  described  by  Bruce. 


MAUSOLEUM   AT   II AL IC  AKN  AS  SUS  .         233 

The  direction  of  the  excavation,  after  running  a 
considerable  distance,  turns  to  the  right,  making  a 
bend,  after  which  it  is  continued  in  the  original 
direction.  It  consists,  as  usual,  of  a  series  of  gal- 
leries and  chambers,  the  partitions  between  which 
are  the  solid  rock,  which  has  been  left  standing  in 
the  form  of  walls.  The  harpers,  which  are  on  the 
walls  of  a  small  chamber,  are  only  part  of  a  large 
picture  or  subject  painted  on  the  three  walls  of  the 
chamber.  One  harper,  who  wears  a  black  dress,  is 
on  the  left  wall ;  the  other,  who  wears  a  white  vest, 
is  on  the  right,  or  opposite  wall.  Both  have  their 
faces  turned  toward  the  deities  represented  on  the 
wall  at  the  end  of  the  chamber. 

One  of  the  harps  has  twenty-one  strings.  The 
attitude  of  the  harpers  is  easy,  and  free  from  con- 
straint. The  form  of  the  instrument  is  elegant;  it 
does  not  appear  from  the  drawing  that  it  has  a 
pedal.  The  harpers  are  represented  in  different 
attitudes. 

In  the  chamber  opposite  to  that  of  the  harpers, 
numerous  articles  of  domestic  use  are  represented 
on  the  walls.  The  vases,  many  of  which  are,  no 
doubt,  representations  of  metal  vases,  are  remark- 
able for  the  beauty  of  their  form  and  the  bright- 
ness of  the  colors.  Among  them  is'  recognized  the 
modern  quoulleh,  or  bardaque,  which  is  used  in 
Egypt  for  cooling  water,  and  appeal's,  from  its 
occurring  here  and  in  the  grottos  of  Eileithuias, 
to  have  been  well  known  in  ancient  times.  It  is 
a  vessel  made  of  porous  clay,  lightly  baked,  and 
rather  thin.  The  water,  which  is  constantly  per- 
colating through  the  small  pours,  forms  a  thick 
dew  or  moisture  on  the  outer  surface,  by  the  rapid 


234  SEVEN    WONDERS   OF   THE   WORLD. 

evaporation  of  which  the  temperature  of  the  vessel 
and  of  the  water  which  it  contains  is  reduced  con- 
siderably below  that  of  the  atmosphere. 

The  manufacture  of  earthen  vessels  is  also  repre- 
sented. We- see  the  clay  of  a  dull-gray  color,  which 
the  workmen  are  fashioning  into  vessels  of  various 
forms ;  each  workman  has  in  front  of  him  a  low  stand, 
on  which  there  is  a  flat  board  placed  horizontally. 
Some  hold  this  with  one  hand,  while  the  thumb  of  the 
other  hand  is  stuck  into  the  middle  of  the  vessel  that 
is  forming.  From  this  we  infer  that  the  circular 
plate  or  board  moved  round  on  an  axis.  In  another 
place  we  see  them  baking  earthen  vessels  in  tall  thin 
furnaces,  out  of  which  the  pots  come  of  a  red  color, 
and  are  carried  off  by  a  man  in  something  like  a 
large  pair  of  scales,  the  lever  of  which  passes,  as 
usual,  over  his  shoulders,  like  the  pole  of  a  milk- 
man's pails.  Over  one  of  the  pictures,  which  rep- 
resents men  making  these  clay  vessels,  the  only 
symbols  marked  are  pots  of  three  different  kinds, 
a  language  which,  coupled  with  what  is  going  on 
below  them,  is  expressive  enough.  It  is  rather 
curious  that  the  earthen  vessels  made  in  some  parts 
of  Spain — about  Cadiz,  for  instance — for  cooling 
water,  bear  a  close  resemblance  in  form  to  the  barda- 
que  of  modern  Egypt,  and  the  cooling  vessel  painted 
in  the  grottos :  their  use  is  precisely  the  same. 

The  chamber  contains  also  representations  of 
chairs  and  seats  of  the  most  beautiful  and  tasteful 
forms.  From  the  various  colors  employed,  as  we 
may  observe  in  the  specimens  of  fresco-paintings 
in  the  Museum,  it  appears  that  the  chairs  and  sofas 
were  formed  of  various,  and  sometimes,  perhaps, 
costly  materials. 


MAUSOLEUM   AT   HALIC AEN ASSUS.         235 

Diodorus  Siculus  says,  that  forty-seven  of  these 
tombs  were  entered  on  the  sacred  register  of  the 
Egyptian  priests,  only  seventeen  of  which  remained 
at  the  time  of  his  visit  to  Egypt,  about  sixty  years 
B.  C.  The  industry  and  enterprise  of  the  indefati- 
gable Belzoni  have  introduced  us,  as  it  were,  into 
an  immediate  intimacy  with  the  sovereigns  of  Egypt 
above  thirty  centuries  ago. 

All  over  the  corridors  and  chambers  the  walls  are 
adorned  with  sculptures  and  paintings  in  intaglio  and 
relief,  representing  gods,  goddesses,  and  the  hero  of 
the  tomb  in  the  most  prominent  events  of  his  life ; 
priests,  religious  processions  and  sacrifices,  boats,  and 
agricultural  scenes,  and  the  most  familiar  pictures 
of  every-day  life,  in  colors  as  fresh  as  if  they  were 
painted  not  more  than  a  month  ago ;  and  the  large 
saloon,  lighted  up  with  the  blaze  of  our  torches, 
seemed  more  fitting  for  a  banqueting-hall,  for  song 
and  dance,  than  a  burial-place  of  the  dead.  All 
travelers  concur  in  pronouncing  the  sudden  transition 
from  the  dreary  desert  without  to  these  magnificent 
tombs,  as  operating  like  a  scene  of  enchantment ;  and 
we  may  imagine  what  must  have  been  the  sensations 
of  Belzoni,  when,wandering  with  the  excitement  of  a 
first  discoverer  through  these  beautiful  corridors  and 
chambers,  he  found  himself  in  the  great  saloon,  lean- 
ing over  the  alabaster  sarcophagus.  An  old  Arab 
guide,  who  accompanied  Belzoni,  points  out  a 
chamber  where  the  fortunate  explorer  entertained 
a  party  of  European  travelers  who  happened  to  ar- 
rive there  at  that  time,  making  the  tomb  of  Pharaoh 
(supposed  to  be  the  tomb  of  Pharaoh  Kecho)  ring 
with  shouts  and  songs  of  merriment. 

It  may  be  observed  that  all  the  tombs  are  of  the 

15 


236  SEVEN   WONDERS   OF  THE   WORLD. 

same  general  character  ;  throughout  possessing  the 
same  beauty  and  magnificence  of  design  and  finish, 
and  on  every  one,  at  the  extreme  end,  was  a  large 
saloon,  adorned  with  sculpture  and  paintings  of  ex- 
traordinary beauty,  and  containing  a  single  sar- 
cophagus. "  The  kings  of  the  nations  did  lie  in 
glory,  every  one  in  his  own  house ;  but  thou  art 
cast  out  of  thy  grave  like  an  abominable  branch." 
Every  sarcophagus  is  broken,  and  the  bones  of  the 
kings  of  Egypt  are  scattered.  Among  the  paint- 
ings on  the  wall  are  represented  a  heap  of  hands 
severed  from  the  arms,  showing  that  the  hero  of 
the  tomb  had  played  the  tyrant  in  his  brief  hour  on 
earth. 

Travelers  and  commentators  concur  in  supposing 
that  these  magnificent  excavations  must  have  been 
intended  for  other  uses  than  the  burial,  each  of  a 
single  king.  Perhaps,  it  is  said,  like  the  chambers  of 
imagery  seen  by  the  Jewish  prophet,  they  were  the 
scene  of  idolatrous  rites  performed  "  in  the  dark ;" 
and  as  the  Israelites  are  known  to  have  been  mere 
copyists  of  the  Egyptians,  these  tombs  are  supposed 
to  illustrate  the  words  of  Ezekiel:  "Then  said  he 
to  me,  Son  of  man,  dig  now  in  the  wall ;  and  when 
I  had  digged  in  the  wall,  behold  a  door.  And  he 
said  unto  me,  Go  in  and  see  the  abominable  things 
that  they  do  there.  So  I  went  in,  and  saw,  and 
behold,  every  form  of  creeping  thing,  and  abomi- 
nable beasts,  and  all  the  idols  of  the  house  of  Israel, 
portrayed  upon  the  wall  round  about."  Ezekiel 
viii,  8-10. 

Amid  the  wrecks  of  former  greatness  which  tower 
above  the  plain  of  Thebes,  the  inhabitants  who 
now  hover  around  the  site  of  the  ancient  city  are 


MAUSOLEUM   AT   H ALIO AKN ASSUS.         237 

perhaps  the  most  miserable  in  Egypt.  On  one  side 
of  the  river  they  build  their  mud  huts  around  the 
ruins  of  the  temples,  and  on  the  other  their  best 
habitations  are  in  the  tombs ;  wherever  a  small 
space  has  been  cleared  out,  the  inhabitants  crawl 
in,  with  their  dogs,  goats,  sheep,  women,  and  chil- 
dren; and  the  Arab  is  passing  rich  who  has  for 
his  sleeping-place  the  sarcophagus  of  an  ancient 
Egyptian. 

In  the  immediate  neighborhood  of  Thebes,  on  the 
western  bank  of  the  river,  the  whole  mountain  side  is 
excavated  into  innumerable  cavern  tombs  for  the  vast 
population  of  the  city.  The  tombs  are  cut  in  the 
rock,  generally  with  their  entrances  facing  the  east ; 
some  have  rock-hewn  porticos  in  front,  but  the 
greater  part  have  only  an  outer  doorway,  and  an  in- 
ner one,  that  has  placed  on  each  side  a  figure  of  the 
watchful  fox.  This  excavated  tract  of  rock  extends 
full  two  miles  in  length.  There  are  deep  shafts  or 
wells,  similar  to  those  found  in  the  pyramids,  which 
are  approaches  to  deeper  chambers,  and  to  an  end- 
less number  of  winding  recesses. 

The  caves  are  literally  loaded  with  ornaments, 
with  allegorical  and  hieroglyphic  figures,  painted 
with  the  freshest  and  most  pleasing  colors  on  a 
coating  formed  of  a  kind  of  plaster.  The  caves  are 
much  encumbered  by  rubbish,  caused  by  the  fre- 
quent and  constant  rifling  by  the  Arabs  for  gain, 
and  breaking  up  of  the  mummy-cases  or  coffins  for 
firewood. 

"With  the  devout  though  degraded  spirit  of  relig- 
ion that  possessed  the  Egyptians,  they  seem  to  have 
paid  but  little  regard  to  their  earthly  habitations ; 
their  temples  and  their  tombs  were  the  principal 


238  SEVEN   WONDERS    OF  THE   WOULD. 

objects  that  engrossed  the  thoughts  of  this  extra- 
ordinary people.  It  has  been  well  said  of  them,  that 
they  regarded  the  habitations  of  the  living  merely 
as  temporary  resting-places,  while  the  tombs  were 
regarded  as  permanent  and  eternal  mansions;  and 
while  not  a  vestige  of  a  habitation  is  to  be  seen,  the 
tombs  remain  monuments  of  splendor  and  mag- 
nificence, perhaps  even  more  wonderful  than  the 
ruins  of  their  temples.  Clinging  to  the  cherished 
doctrine  of  the  metempsychosis,  the  immortal  part, 
on  leaving  its  earthly  tenement,  was  supposed  to 
become  a  wandering,  migratory  spirit,  giving  life 
and  vitality  to  some  bird  of  the  air,  some  beast  of 
the  field,  or  some  fish  of  the  sea,  waiting  for  a 
regeneration  in  the  natural  body.  And  it  was  of 
the  very  essence  of  this  faith  to  inculcate  a  pious 
regard  for  the  security  and  preservation  of  the 
dead.  The  open  doors  of  tdmbs  are  seen  in  long 
ranges,  and  at  different  elevations,  and  on  the 
plain  large  pits  have  been  opened,  in  which  have 
been  found  one  thousand  mummies  at  a  time. 
For  many  years,  and  until  a  late  order  of  the 
pacha  preventing  it,  the  Arabs  had  been  in  the 
habit  of  rifling  the  tombs  to  sell  the  mummies  to 
travelers.  Thousands  have  been  torn  from  the  places 
where  pious  hands  had  laid  them,  and  the  bones 
meet  the  traveler  at  every  step.  The  Arabs  use 
the  mummy-cases  for  firewood,  the  bituminous  mat- 
ters used  in  the  embalmment  being  well  adapted  to 
ignition ;  and  the  epicurean  traveler  may  cook  his 
breakfast  with  the  coffin  of  a  king.  Notwithstand- 
ing the  depredations  that  have  been  committed,  the 
mummies  that  have  been  taken  away  and  scattered 
all  over  the  world,  those  that  have  been  burned, 


MAUSOLEUM   AT   HALIC  AM  ASSUS  .  239 

and  those  that  now  remain  in  fragments  around  the 
tombs,  the  numbers  yet  undisturbed  are  no  doubt 
infinitely  greater ;  for  the  practice  of  embalming  is 
known  to  have  existed  from  the  earliest  periods 
recorded  in  the  history  of  Egypt ;  and  by  a  rough 
computation,  founded  upon  the  age,  the  population 
of  the  city,  and  the  average  duration  of  human 
life,  it  is  supposed  that  there  are  from  eight  to  ten 
millions  of  mummied  bodies  in  the  vast  necropolis 
of  Thebes. 

The  indefatigable  traveler,  Dr.  Lepsius,  the  result 
of  whose  investigations  has  lately  been  published, 
has  deciphered  the  inscriptions  on  forty-five  of  the 
tombs  at  the  foot  of  the  great  Pyramid  of  Jizeh, 
which  until  his  exploration  were  of  unknown  date. 
The  most  magnificent  of  these  mausoleums,  or  rather 
vaults  in  the  rock,  belonged  to  princes,  kinsmen,  or 
chief  officers  of  those  kings  near  whose  pyramids 
they  lie ;  and  in  some  cases  there  are  regular 
series  of  succession  of  father,  son,  and  grandson, 
supplying  complete  pedigrees  of  those  distinguished 
families  that  above  four  thousand  years  since  formed 
the  nobility  of  the  land.  Among  them,  one  in  fine 
condition  was  buried  in  the  sand,  which  belongs  to 
a  son  of  King  Cheops.  In  these  tombs  we  obtain  a 
knowledge  of  the  oldest  determinable  civilization  of 
the  human  race.  The  architectural  forms  appear 
matured,  and  sculptures  of  whole  figures  of  all  sizes, 
in  high  and  low  relief,  are  in  surprising  abundance. 
The  painting,  on  the  finest  lime-coating,  is  often 
beautiful  beyond  conception,  and  as  fresh  as  if  done 
yesterday. 

The  same  idea  of  monumental  display  over  the 
remains  of  the  dead  seems  to  have  prompted  the 


240  SEVEN   WONDERS   OF   THE   WOULD. 

wonderful  architecture  of  rock-hewn  Petra.  "  Were 
those  excavations,"  says  Dr.  Ivitto,*  "  instead  of  fol- 
lowing all  the  sinuosities  of  the  mountain  and  its 
numerous  gorges,  ranged  in  regular  order,  they 
probably  would  form  a  street  not  less  than  five  or 
six  miles  in  length.  They  are  often  seen  rising  one 
above  another  in  the  face  of  the  cliff,  and  convenient 
steps,  now  much  worn,  cut  in  the  rock,  lead  in  all 
directions  through  the  fissures,  and  along  the  sides 
of  the  mountains,  to  the  various  tombs  that  occupy 
these  lofty  positions.  Some  of  them  are  apparently 
not  less  than  from  two  hundred  to  three  or  four 
hundred  feet  above  the  level  of  the  valley.  Con- 
spicuous situations,  visible  from  below,  were  gen- 
erally chosen ;  but  sometimes  the  opposite  taste 
prevailed,  and  the  most  secluded  cliffs,  fronting 
some  dark  ravine,  and  quite  hidden  from  the  gaze 
of  the  multitude,  were  preferred. 

"  The  ornamental  architecture  is  wholly  confined 
to  the  front,  while  the  interior  is  quite  plain  and 
destitute  of  all  decoration.  The  front  of  the  mount- 
ain is  wrought  into  facades  of  splendid  temples,  rival- 
ing in  their  aspect  and  symmetry  the  most  celebrated 
monuments  of  Grecian  art.  Columns  of  various 
colors,  graceful  pediments,  broad,  rich  entablatures, 
and  sometimes  statuary,  all  hewn  out  of  the  solid 
rock,  and  still  forming  part  of  the  native  mass,  trans- 
form the  base  of  the  mountain  into  a  vast  splendid 
pile  of  architecture ;  while  the  overhanging  cliffs, 
towering  above  in  shapes  as  rugged  and  wild  as 
any  on  which  the  eye  ever  rested,  form  the  most 
striking  and  curious  of  contrasts." 

0  Cyclop,  v,  ii,  p.  726. 


C|*  flans  at  ^teanhia> 


That  towering  light  which  stood 

Upon  the  mount's  high,  rocky  verge, 
Lay  open  toward  the  ocean  flood, 

Where  lightly  o'er  the  illumined  surge 
Many  a  fair  bark,  that  all  the  day 
Had  lurk'd  in  sheltering  creek  or  bay, 
Now  bounded  on,  and  gave  their  sails, 
Yet  dripping,  to  the  evening  gales. 


CONTENTS. 


Alexandria. 

dlnocrates  the  architect. 

The  Pharos. 

The  Island  of  Pharos. 

Ancient  Alexandria. 

The  Ptolemies — Founders  of  the  Pharos. 

Dioclesian's  Pillar  at  Alexandria. 

The  Emperor  Claudius's  Pharos  at  Ostta. 

Tee  Pharos  of  Cordouan. 

The  Pharos  at  Puzzoli. 

The  Pharos  at  Genoa,  at  Antium,  and  Ancona. 

The  Eddystone  Lighthouse. 

The  Bell  Eock  Lighthouse. 

The  Inchcape. 


THE    PHAROS 

WATCH-TOWER,  OB   LIGHTHOUSE,  AT   ALEXANDRIA,  IN 

EGYPT. 

From  the  blue  waters  to  the  deep  blue  skies, 
Earth-based — sky-capp'd — those  stately  structures  rise. 
The  exulting  warriors,  as  their  swift  keels  glide 
Proudly  triumphant  o'er  the  heaving  tide, 
Eye  with  delight  their  much-loved,  long-sought  home. 

Alexandria  owes  its  origin  to  Alexander  the  Great, 
who,  about  B.  C.  332,  gave  orders  to  Dinocrates,  a 
Macedonian  architect,  to  erect  a  city  between  the 
sea  and  Lake  Mareotis;  and  the  undertaking  ap- 
pears to  have  been  one  of  the  most  noble  this  cele- 
brated conqueror  ever  executed.  Having  journeyed 
through  Egypt,  and  seen  the  highly-productive  state 
of  the  country,  and  that  it  was  watered  by  one  of 
the  largest  rivers  of  the  world,  which  discharged 
itself  by  seven  mouths  into  the  Mediterranean  Sea, 
he  thought  its  only  want  was  a  convenient  harbor. 
Alexander,  who  was  magnificent  and  liberal,  found 
among  his  countrymen  engineers  and  architects 
qualified  to  assist  his  bold  ideas,  and  he  had,  what 
is  a  rare  quality  among  princes,  the  talent  to  select 
the  best  man  fitted  to  execute  them ;  and  on  this 
occasion  he  appointed  Dinocrates  to  the  task  of 
building  the  new  city. 

The  site  selected  was  one  for  which  nature  had 
done  much,  and  which  seemed  capable  of  being  made 


244         SEVEN   WONDERS   OF  THE   WORLD. 

bv  art  all  that  was  desirable.  In  the  midst  of  the 
capacious  bay,  on  the  shore  of  which  the  city  was 
marked  out,  and  at  some  distance  from  the  main- 
land, lay  the  Island  of  Pharos,  which  acted  as  a 
natural  breakwater; — the  island  was  of  an  oblong 
form.  This  Dinocrates  united  with  the  mainland 
by  an  extensive  causeway,  or  earth-wall — thus 
dividing  the  bay  into  two  harbors. 

Dinocrates  was  the  architect  and  sculptor  who 
proposed  to  Alexander  to  carve  Mount  Athos  into 
a  statue  of  the  monarch,  having  in  his  left  hand  the 
walls  of  a  great  city,  and  all  the  rivers  of  the 
mountains  flowing  through  his  right  hand  into  the 
sea.  Alexander  declined  the  offer,  but  took  him  to 
Egypt,  and  employed  him  in  beautifying  Alexandria. 
He  was  also  employed  by  the  Ephesians  in  rebuild- 
ing the  Temple  of  Diana.  He  also  began  to  build 
a  temple  in  honor  of  Arsinoe,  by  order  of  Ptolemy, 
in  which  he  intended  to  suspend  a  statue  of  the 
queen  by  means  of  a  loadstone.  His  death,  how- 
ever, put  an  end  to  the  work. 

To  render  the  harbor  safe  of  approach  at  all  times, 
Ptolemy  Soter,  who,  on  the  death  of  Alexander,  ob- 
tained the  government  of  Egypt,  determined  on 
erecting  a  lighthouse  on  the  eastern  extremity  of 
the  Isle  of  Pharos,  the  celebrity  of  which  has  given 
the  name  to  all  other  lighthouses. 

This  pharos  was  in  height  four  hundred  and  fifty 
feet,  and  could  be  seen  at  a  distance  of  one  hundred 
miles.  It  was  built  of  several  stories,  decreasing  in 
dimension  toward  the  top,  where  fires  were  lighted 
in  a  species  of  lantern.  The  ground-floor  and  the 
two  next  above  were  hexagonal ;  the  fourth  was  a 
square  with  a  round  tower  at  each  angle  ;  the  fifth 


$*ij| 


THE    PHAROS    AT    ALEXANDRIA. 


JZ^&^-X*. 


^ 


0?  TEDS 


THE    PHAKOS    AT    ALEXANDRIA.  247 

floor  was  circular,  continued  to  the  top,  to  which  a 
winding  staircase  conducted.  In  the  upper  galleries 
were  contrived  some  mirrors,  to  show  the  ships  and 
objects  at  sea  for  some  considerable  distance.  On 
the  top  a  fire  was  constantly  kept,  to  direct  sailors 
into  the  bay,  which  was  dangerous  and  difficult  of 
access. 

The  whole  of  this  masterpiece  of  art  was  exqui- 
sitely wrought  in  stone,  and  adorned  with  columns, 
balustrades,  and  ornaments,  worked  in  the  finest 
marble.  To  protect  the  structure  from  ocean  storms, 
it  was  surrounded  entirely  by  a  sea-wall.  Ancient 
writers  say,  the  building  of  this  tower  cost  eight 
hundred  talents,  which  is  equivalent  to  £165,000, 
if  Attic  talents;  but  if  Alexandrian,  double  that 

sum. 

The  building  was  not  completed  during  the  reign 

of  the  first  Ptolemy,  but  was  finished  in  the  reign 

of  his  son  Ptolemy  Philadelphus,  who  placed  this 

inscription  upon  it : — "  King  Ptolemy,  to  the  Gods 

the  Saviours,  for  the  benefit  of  sailors." 

Sostratus,  the  architect,  wishing  to  claim  all  the 
glory  of  the  building,  engraved  his  own  name  on  the 
solid  marble,  and  afterward  coated  it  with  cement. 
Thus,  when  time  had  decayed  the  mortar,  Ptolemy's 
name  disappeared,  and  the  following  inscription 
became  visible: — "Sostratus  the  Cnidian,  to  the 
Gods  the  Saviours,  for  the  benefit  of  sailors." 

Of  this  remarkable  tower  not  a  vestige  remains, 
and  history  gives  us  no  further  information  than  we 
have  here ;  of  its  gradual  decay  or  of  its  violent  de- 
struction we  have  no  record :  but  that  such  a  struc- 
ture as  described  stood  there,  there  can  be  not  a 
shadow  of  doubt,  from  the  fact  that  all  buildings  for 


248  SEVEN   WONDERS   OF  THE  WORLD. 

like  purposes  among  the  Greeks  and  Romans  bear 
the  designation  from  this. 

The  Island  of  Pharos  consists  of  a  saline,  arid  soil, 
and  dazzling  white  calcareous  rock  ;  it  is  bordered 
with  reefs,  especially  on  the  west  side.  The  Arabs 
call  it  the  Garden  of  Fig-trees,  because  figs  are  suc- 
cessfully cultivated  on 'this  otherwise  barren  spot. 
The  island  shows  many  traces  of  ancient  building ; 
and  the  fort  erected  at  the  new  port,  which  has  a 
lighthouse  attached  to  it,  is  connected  with  the 
Island  of  Pharos  by  an  artificial  dyke,  made  in  part 
of  ancient  granite  columns  laid  transversely. 

The  point  of  the  new  port  opposite  Pharos  was 
called  Lochias,  where  are  ruins  of  an  ancient  pier ; 
and  from  thence  southward  is  the  spot  where  stood 
the  palaces  of  the  Ptolemies,  the  theaters,  and  various 
temples.  Bordering  on  the  old  port  stood  the  great 
Temple  of  Serapis,  an  Egyptian  deity,  the  celebra- 
tion of  whose  mystic  rites  gave  great  offense  to  the 
Christians.  Theophilus,  the  Patriarch  of  Alexan- 
dria, obtained  permission  from  the  Emperor  Theo- 
dosius  (A.  D.  390)  to  destroy  the  edifice,  and  he  did 
it  so  effectually  that  not  one  stone  was  left  upon 
another. 

The  Ptolemies  embellished  the  city  with  the 
spoils  of  other  ancient  towns  of  Egypt,  and,  con- 
tinuing for  several  centuries  to  receive  additions 
and  improvements,  Alexandria  was  at  one  period 
the  rival  of  Rome  in  size,  and  it  became  the  first 
commercial  city  of  the  globe.  It  was  what  Tyre 
had  been  before,  the  point  of  exchange  between 
the  Eastern  and  Western  world.  Diodorus,  who 
visited  Alexandria  just  before  the  downfall  of  the 
Ptolemies,  says,  "  that  the  registers  showed  a  popula- 


THE    PHAROS    AT    ALEXANDEIA.  249 

tion  of  more  than  three   hundred   thousand   free 
citizens." 

Inclosed  within  a  double  wall,  flanked  by  lofty 
towers,  are  the  remains  of  old  Alexandria, — an  al- 
most shapeless  mass  of  rubbish,  in  which  lie  frag- 
ments of  broken  columns  and  their  capitals,  portions 
of  wall,  cisterns  half-choked  up  with  earth,  bits  of 
pottery  and  glass,  and  all  other  signs  of  complete 
desolation.  Of  the  two  granite  obelisks,  commonly 
and  absurdly  called  Cleopatra's  Needles,  one  is  still 
standing,  the  other  is  lying  on  the  ground.  From 
their  present  position,  it  would  appear  that  they 
must  have  been  placed  at  the  entrance  of  a  palace 
or  temple.  They  are  of  red  granite,  and  the  height 
about  sixty-three  feet,  exclusive  of  the  base  and 
pedestal.  The  fallen  pillar  bears  the  name  of 
Thothmes :  there  were  three  kings  of  that  name, 
who  reigned  between  1550  and  1450  B.  C,  that  is 
to  say,  the  period  of  Moses ;  the  exodus  taking  place 
1495  B.  C.  It  has  also  the  name  of  Barneses,  whose 
date  was  about  a  century  later.  Near  the  obelisks 
are  remains  of  a  tower  called  the  Tower  of  the  Ro- 
mans. About  the  center  of  the  inclosure  stands 
the  Mosque  of  St.  Athanasius,  on  the  site  of  a  Chris- 
tian church  erected  by  this  patriarch  during  the 
fourth  century  ;  and  on  this  very  spot  was  the  place 
called  Soma,  (the  body,)  which  was  in  the  quarter 
of  the  palaces,  and  contained  the  tomb  of  Alexander. 
In  this  mosque  the  French  found  the  beautiful  sar- 
cophagus of  Theban  breccia,  now  in  the  British 
Museum.  Owing  to  the  difficulty  of  working  it, 
the  Egyptians  seldom  used  this  stone  ;  and  yet,  hard 
as  it  is,  the  surface  within  and  without  is  covered 
with  sculptured  hieroglyphics :  the  number  of  char- 


250  SEVEN   WONDEKS   OF  THE   WORLD. 

acters  on  it  is  near  twenty-eight  thousand.  Dr. 
Clarke  wrote  an  able  dissertation  to  prove  that  this 
was  the  sarcophagus  in  which  the  body  of  Alexan- 
der was  placed.  But  Champollion  reads  the  hiero- 
glyphics, and  states  that  it  was  the  sarcophagus  of 
Arthout,  1170  B.  C. ;  and  another  authority  makes 
it  Sethos,  1631  B.  C. 

The  history  of  the  city  is  as  remarkable  as  its 
monuments :  we  can  only  indicate  its  great  epochs. 
From  B.  C  323  to  B.  C.  30,  it  was  the  residence  of  the 
Greek  kings  of  Egypt,  the  resort  of  all  commercial 
people,  especially  Jews,  as  well  as  the  center  of  the 
scientific  knowledge  of  the  age.  By  the  Greek  his- 
torians Alexandria  is  said  to  have  been  fifteen  miles 
in  circumference,  containing  a  population  of  three 
hundred  thousand  citizens,  and  as  many  slaves ;  one 
magnificent  street,  two  thousand  feet  broad,  ran  the 
whole  length  of  the  city,  from  the  Gate  of  the  Sea 
to  the  Canopie  Gate,  commanding  a  view  at  each 
end  of  the  shipping,  either  in  the  Mediterranean  or 
in  the  Mareotic  Lake  ;  and  another  of  equal  length 
intersected  it  at  right  angles:  a  spacious  circus  with- 
out the  Canopie  Gate,  for  chariot-races,  and  on  the 
east  a  splendid  gymnasium,  more  than  six  hundred 
feet  in  length,  with  theaters,  baths,  and  all  that  could 
make  it  a  desirable  residence  for  a  luxurious  people. 

In  the  campaigns  of  Julius  Csesar  it  sustained 
much  damage  ;  but  still,  from  B.  C.  30  to  A.  D.  640 
it  was  a  flourishing  city  under  the  Roman  emperors. 
Under  the  Eastern  empire  it  adopted  the  Christian 
faith,  and  became  one  of  its  strongholds ;  and  it  was  the 
theater  on  which  the  Christians  showed  their  deter- 
mined hostility  to  all  the  works  of  pagan  art.  The 
magnificent  library,  founded  by  the  Ptolemies,  and 


THE    PHAEOS    AT    ALEXANDRIA.  251 

which  some  accounts  say  at  one  period  contained 
seven  hundred  thousand  volumes ;  although  it  had 
sustained  a  loss  of  more  than  half  during  the  siege 
by  Julius  Caesar,  yet  retained  about  two  hundred 
thousand ;  when,  on  the  city  being  captured  by  the 
Saracens  under  the  Caliph  Omar,  the  whole  of  this 
magnificent  collection  of  the  learning  of  past  ages 
was  ordered  to  be  burned,  according  to  the  story 
currently  believed  of  Omar's  fanatical  decision : — 
"If  these  writings  of  the  Greeks  agree  with  the 
books  of  God,  they  are  useless,  and  need  not  be 
preserved;  if  they  disagree,  they  are  pernicious, 
and  ought  to  be  destroyed."  Accordingly  they  were 
employed  to  heat  the  four  thousand  baths  of  the 
city ;  and  such  was  the  number,  that  six  months 
were  barely  sufficient  for  the  consumption  of  this 
precious  fuel.  The  historian  Gibbon  discredits  the 
statement ;  but  he  does  not  suggest,  which  he  might 
with  effect,  that  as  we  may  reasonably  conclude 
most  of  these  valued  works  were  on  parchment  or 
vellum,  they  could  have  been  of  no  service  for  fuel. 
However  the  collection  may  have  been  got  rid  of, 
it  is  certain  that  in  some  way  or  other  it  was  en- 
tirely dispersed  or  destroyed. 

At  the  time  of  its  capture  by  the  Saracens  it  was 
impossible  to  overrate  the  variety  and  riches  of 
Alexandria,  which  is  said  then  to  have  contained 
four  thousand  palaces,  four  thousand  baths,  four 
hundred  temples,  theaters,  and  other  public  edifices, 
with  twelve  thousand  shops ;  and  there  were  then 
forty  thousand  tributary  Jews.  From  that  time — 
like  everything  else  which  falls  into  the  hands  of 
the  Mussulman — it  has  been  going  to  ruin  ;  and  the 
discovery  of  the  passage  to  India  by  the  Cape  of 


252  SEVEN   WONDERS   OF   THE   WORLD. 

Good  Hope  gave  the  death-blow  to  its  commercial 
greatness.  At  present  it  stands  a  phenomenon  in  the 
history  of  a  Turkish  dominion.  It  appears  once  more 
to  be  raising  its  head  from  the  dust.  It  remains  to 
be  seen  whether  this  rise  is  the  legitimate  and  per- 
manent effect  of  a  wise  and  politic  government, 
combined  with  natural  advantages,  or  whether  the 
pacha  is  not  forcing  it  to  an  unnatural  elevation,  at 
the  expense,  if  not  upon  the  ruins,  of  the  rest  of 
Egypt.  It  may  appear  to  be  somewhat  presump- 
tuous here  to  speculate  upon  the  future  condition 
of  this  interesting  country ;  but  it  is  clear  that  the 
pacha  is  determined  to  build  up  the  city  of  Alex- 
andria if  he  can :  his  fleet  is  here,  his  army,  his 
arsenal,  and  his  forts  are  here ;  and  he  has  forced 
and  centred  here  a  commerce  that  was  before 
divided  between  several  places.  Rosetta  has  lost 
more  than  two-thirds  of  its  population,  Damietta  has 
become  a  mere  nothing,  and  even  Cairo  the  Grand 
has  become  tributary  to  what  is  called  the  regen- 
erated city. 

On  the  edge  of  the  Libyan  Desert,  distant  about 
two  miles  from  the  city,  were,the  catacombs,  which 
are  supposed  to  extend  into  the  surface  for  many 
miles.  These  great  repositories  of  the  dead  are  but 
little  known  to  the  natives,  and  travelers  have  some 
difficulty  in  finding  them.  The  real  entrance,  which 
was  probably  from  above,  is  unknown ;  but  a  forced 
way  has  been  made,  and  the  first  chamber  entered, 
which  was  designed  as  a  repose  for  the  dead,  is  now 
occupied  as  a  stable  for  the  horses  of  one  of  the 
pacha's  regiments.  After  passing  through  other 
chambers,  there  is  an  entrance  to  a  circular  room 
of  about   thirty  feet  in  diameter,  with  a  vaulted 


THE   PHAKOS   AT   ALEXANDRIA.  253 

roof,  admirable  for  its  proportions  :  in  this  are  three 
recesses,  with  niches  for  the  bodies,  and  in  them 
are  skulls  and  moldering  bones  still  lying  on  the 
ground. 

The  pharos  having  its  origin  with  the  first  Ptolemy ', 
surnamed  Soter  or  "Preserver,"  and  its  completion 
under  his  son  Ptolemy,  surnamed  Philadelphus  or 
"Brother-loving,"  some  notice  of  these  monarchs  is 
not  out  of  place.  Ptolemy  I.  was  one  of  the  ablest 
generals  of  Alexander  the  Great.  In  the  division  of 
the  provinces,  on  the  death  of  Alexander,  Egypt  was 
assigned  to  Ptolemy,  who  soon  took  measures  to  erect 
it  into  an  independent  kingdom.  He  obtained  the 
body  of  Alexander,  which  the  council  at  Babylon  had 
intended  to  transport  to  Macedonia,  and  after  it  had 
been  carried  to  Memphis  was  finally  deposited  at 
Alexandria.  After  wars  with  other  Greek  princes, 
during  a  period  of  twenty  years,  Ptolemy  was  left  in 
the  undisturbed  possession  of  Egypt.  From  this 
time,  B.  C.  301,  to  his  death,  Ptolemy  devoted  all  his 
energies  to  develop  the  resources  and  promote  the 
prosperity  of  his  kingdom.  Under  his  wise  govern- 
ment and  that  of  his  successor,  Alexandria  became, 
as  its  great  founder  had  anticipated,  the  first  com- 
mercial city  in  the  world,  and  the  place  from  which 
Europe  was  supplied  with  the  merchandise  of  the 
East.  His  subj  ects  consisting  of  two  distinct  nations, 
it  was  the  policy  of  Ptolemy  and  his  successors  to 
amalgamate  the  Egyptians  and  Greeks  as  much  as 
possible.  Ptolemy,  being  a  Greek,  introduced  Greek 
habits  and  customs,  as  well  as  their  religion,  into 
Egypt ;  but,  like  his  great  predecessor,  Alexander,  he 
carefully  avoided  offending  the  prejudices  of  his  new 

subjects,  but  he  adopted,  to  a  certain  extent,  the 

16 


254  SEVEN   WONDERS   OF  THE   WORLD. 

Egyptian  forms  of  worship.     He  introduced  com- 
plete religious  toleration   among  all  his  subjects; 
and  conciliated  their  favor  by  the  respect  paid  to 
the  ancient  Egyptian  priesthood,  and  also  by  con- 
tributing largely  to  the  restoration  of  the  ancient 
monuments  of  the  country.     The  troubled  state  of 
Palestine,  as  well  as   the   growing  commerce  of 
Alexandria,  induced   many  Jews  to  settle   there ; 
and  the  same  toleration  was  granted  to  them  as  to 
the  worshipers  of  Isis  and  Jupiter.     He  caused  the 
removal  of  the  statue  of  Serapis  from  Pontus  to  his 
capital,  which  was  done  with  great  solemnity,  and 
was  doubtless  intended  to  establish  the  worship  of  a 
deity  which  might  prove  acceptable  to  both  Greeks 
and  Egyptians.     Ptolemy  was  a  great  encourager  of 
learning,  and  wrote  a  History  of  the  wars  of  Alex- 
ander, which  supplied  Arrian  with  materials  for  his 
history.     He  extended  his   patronage  to  all  kinds 
of  learning,  independent  of  religious  opinions,  and 
laid  the  foundation  for  that  school  and  library  after- 
ward regularly  established  by  his  son.     He  died 
B.  C.  283,  at  the  age  of  eighty-four,  after  a  govern- 
ment of  forty  years;  and  is  by  all  ancient  writers 
represented  as  a  prince  of  the  greatest  wisdom,  pru- 
dence, and  generosity ;  and  JElian  reports  as  one  of 
his  sayings,  "that  it  was  better  to  make  rich  than 
to  be  rich." 

He  was  succeeded  by  his  son,  Ptolemy  H.,  who 
followed  the  example  of  his  father  in  the  encourage- 
ment of  learning,  the  study  of  the  arts  and  sciences, 
and  also  in  maintaining,  with  great  liberality,  many 
distinguished  philosophers  and  poets.  He  establish- 
ed the  famous  library,  and  he  founded  a  museum  for 
the  promotion  of  learning  and  the  support  of  learned 


THE  PHAROS   AT   ALEXANDRIA.  255 

men,  which  contained  cloisters,  a  theater  or  lecture- 
room,  and  a  large  hall,  where  the  learned  men  all 
dined  together.  Attached  to  the  museum  were 
botanical  and  zoological  gardens.  The  museum 
was  supported  by  grants  from  the  public  treasury. 
It  was  under  his  auspices  that  the  Hebrew  Bible 
was  first  translated  into  Greek.  Josephus  gives 
an  account  of  the  entertainment  at  which  Ptolemy 
received  the  translators;  which  also  affords  us  an 
idea  of  the  literary  parties  the  king  was  accustomed 
to  give. 

As  the  great  treasures  and  resources  of  Ptolemy 
Philadelphus  were  owing  to  his  possessing  the  trade 
with  India  and  other  parts,  he  used  every  effort  to 
extend  the  trade  of  Alexandria,  and  he  obtained 
possession  of  several  parts  of  Arabia ;  and  one  of 
his  admirals  appears  to  have  gone  as  far  south  as 
Madagascar.  Appian,  who  was  a  native  of  Alexan- 
dria, informs  us  that,  under  the  Ptolemies,  the  army 
consisted  of  two  hundred  thousand  foot-soldiers, 
forty  thousand  horse,  three  hundred  elephants,  and 
two  thousand  war-chariots ;  besides  a  fleet  of  eight 
hundred  ships  magnificently  equipped,  and  two 
thousand  smaller  vessels.  Ptolemy  II.  died  B.  C. 
247,  after  a  reign  of  thirty-six  years ;  and,  according 
to  Appian,  after  expending  more  upon  public  works 
than  all  his  successors,  he  left  in  the  treasury,  at  his 
death,  seven  hundred  and  forty  thousand  Egyptian 
talents. 

The  ancient  pharos,  the  Lantern  of  Ptolemy,  no 
longer  throws  its  light  far  over  the  bosom  of  the  sea, 
to  guide  the  weary  mariner ;  but  even  now  one  of  the 
monuments  of  Egypt's  proudest  days,  the  celebrated 
Pillar,  after  the  lapse  of  more  than  two  thousand 


256  SEVEN    WONDERS    OF   THE   WORLD. 

years,  is  one  of  the  landmarks  which  guide  the  sailor 
to  her  fallen  capital.  Standing  on  a  mound  of  earth 
about  forty  feet  high,  which  contains  remains  of  for- 
mer constructions,  it  rises  a  single  shaft  of  red  granite, 
sixty-eight  feet  long,  which  weighs  at  least  two  hun- 
dred and  seventy-six  tons:  it  is  surmounted  by  a 
Corinthian  capital  ten  feet  high ;  the  entire  height 
of  the  column  and  its  pedestal  being  ninety-four 
feet;  and  independent  of  its  own  monumental 
beauty,  it  is  an  interesting  object,  as  marking  the 
center  of  the  ancient  city.  It  stands  far  outside  the 
present  walls ;  and  from  its  base  you  may  look  over 
a  barren  waste  of  sand,  running  from  the  shores  of 
the  Mediterranean  to  the  Lake  Mareotis,  the  bounda- 
ries of  Alexandria  as  it  was  of  old.  According  to  a 
Greek  inscription  on  the  plinth  of  the  base,  it  ap- 
pears to  have  been  erected  in  honor  of  the  Emperor 
Diocletian,  by  a  prefect  of  Egypt,  whose  name  can- 
not be  deciphered,  further  than  that  it  begins  with 
PO.  These  two  letters  are  all  the  authority  to 
connect  it  with  the  name  of  Pompey,  to  which  it  is 
now  universally  allied.  Amid  the  broken  materials 
around  its  base  we  discover  the  center-stone  on  which 
it  rests ;  this  is  a  piece  of  yellowish  breccia,  with 
Egyptian  hieroglyphics  on  it,  placed  the  wrong  end 
upward. 

Next  in  point  of  magnificence  to  the  Pharos  at 
Alexandria,  was  that  which  the  Emperor  Claudius 
ordered — a  tower  or  lighthouse — to  be  erected  at 
the  entrance  of  the  port  of  Ostia,  for  the  benefit  of 
sailors.  It  was  built  on  an  artificial  island,  and  was 
a  most  classic  form ;  the  three  main  stories  were 
ornamented  with  most  beautiful  marble  columns  of 


THE   PHAEOS    AT   ALEXANDRIA.  257 

the  Doric,  Ionic,  and  Corinthian  orders.  In  it  were 
staircases  and  apartments  for  the  use  of  the  officers 
and  men  to  whom  the  care  of  the  port  was  intrusted. 
Fires  were,  at  the  approach  of  night,  lighted  in  the 
upper  gallery  of  the  tower,  which  could  be  seen  for  a 
considerable  distance.  The  sand  and  mud  deposited 
by  the  Tiber  have  for  many  centuries  choked  the 
harbor  of  Ostia ;  and  the  ruins  of  old  Ostia  are  now 
in  the  midst  of  a  wilderness,  nearly  two  miles  from 
the  mouth  of  the  river.  The  whole  features  of  the 
coast  are  now  materially  changed,  and  a  wide  marsh 
lies  in  front  of  the  port  of  Claudius. 

The  Pharos  of  Cordouan  is  the  most  superb  as 
well  as  the  most  important  of  modern  times.  Since 
those  of  Alexander  and  Claudius  there  is,  nor  has 
been,  none  equal  to  it.  It  is  situate  on  a  small 
island, — a  bare  rock,  which  is  dry  at  low  water,  and 
entirely  covered  at  high  water, — at  the  mouths  of 
the  Garonne  and  Dordogne,  in  France,  and  serves 
as  a  sea-mark  by  day  and  a  light-house  by  night ; 
and  but  for  the  warnings  it  offers,  the  wrecks  would 
be  numerous.  There  are  but  two  passes, — the  one 
called  the  Pas  des  Anes,  between  St.  Saintonge 
and  the  tower,  and  the  other  between  the  tower  and 
Medoc,  called  the  Pas  des  Graves,— both  equally 
dangerous  to  vessels  that  may  be  unfortunately  sur- 
prised by  a  heavy  westerly  wind.  All  around  are 
rocks,  covered  with  but  about  three  feet  of  water, 
upon  which  the  billows  break  with  tremendous 
violence,  and  rise  to  a  prodigious  height,  rendering 
access  to  the  tower  at  all  times  very  difficult.  This 
magnificent  tower  was  commenced  in  the  reign  of 
Henry  II.,  in  1584,  by  Louis  de  Foix,  who  finished 
it  under  Henry  IV.,  in  1610.     It  is  considered,  by 


258  SEVEN   WONDERS   OF   THE   WORLD. 

architects  and  engineers,  not  only  the  purest  in 
style,  but  the  boldest  in  execution. 

The  building  consists  of  four  stories ;  the  apart- 
ments it  contains  are  all  highly  decorated;  exter- 
nally, the  lowest  is  of  the  Doric ;  the  second,  the 
Ionic ;  the  third,  the  Corinthian  ;  and  the  fourth,  of 
the  Composite  order.  The  base  of  the  edifice  is  a 
circle  one  hundred  and  thirty-five  feet  in  diameter, 
over  the  whole  of  which  the  constructions  are  of 
solid  masonry :  upon  this  rises  a  circular  platform, 
one  hundred  feet  in  diameter,  and  upon  this  is  con- 
structed the  tower.  The  lower  floor  is  a  vaulted 
hall,  twenty- two  feet  square  and  twenty  in  height ; 
over  this  is  the  grand  saloon,  twenty-one  feet  square 
and  twenty  in  height,  with  vestibule,  and  various 
conveniences  for  the  residents.  The  third  floor  is 
circular,  with  a  hemispherical  dome,  and  was  in- 
tended «-f  or  a  chapel ;  its  entire  height  is  forty  feet ; 
this  apartment  was  decorated  with  paintings  and 
mosaics. 

The  total  height  of  the  tower,  above  the  surface 
of  the  rock,  is  one  hundred  and  sixty-two  feet. 

At  Puzzoli,  a  city  of  Greek  origin,  which  the 
Romans  strongly  fortified  about  200  B.  C,  and 
erected  there  several  magnificent  temples,  and  other 
public  buildings,  the  remains  of  which  attest  its 
former  magnificence, — being  well  situated  on  the 
Bay  of  Naples,  there  they  formed  a  considerable 
port,  by  constructing  a  mole  of  such  an  extent  as 
made  it  famous  throughout  the  world,  as,  being 
carried  so  far  out  to  sea,  vessels  of  the  largest  size 
could  at  all  times  discharge  their  cargoes.  At  the 
end  of  the  mole  was  erected  a  light-house,  composed 
of  three  stories,  surmounted  with  a  tower,  upon  the 


THE   PHAROS   AT   ALEXANDRIA.  259 

top  of  which  the  light  was  exhibited.  In  a  picture 
discovered  at  Pompeii,  there  is  a  representation  of 
this  mole  and  its  pharos.  Some  remains  of  the  mole 
exist,  but  not  a  vestige  of  the  light-house  is  left. 

On  the  west  side  of  the  Bay  of  Genoa,  upon  an 
extreme  point  of  land,  stands  a  light-house, — a  square 
tower  of  several  stories  in  height, — and  being  based 
upon  a  rock  of  some  elevation,  can  be  seen  at  sea 
for  several  miles. 

At  the  ancient  port  of  Antium  (now  Meltuno) 
was  an  artificial  island,  upon  which  was  a  pharos  of 
much  note ;  but  of  it  not  a  vestige  remains. 

At  Ancona,  on  the  extremity  of  the  mole,  is  a 
light-house  of  the  most  solid  construction,  the  work 
of  the  celebrated  Yanvitelli,  who  was  employed  in 
the  middle  of  the  last  century  to  improve  the  har- 
bor. The  Emperor  Trajan  had  constructed  a  splen- 
did mole,  which  yet  remains,  a  solid  mass  of  masonry, 
rising  to  a  considerable  height  above  the  sea ;  and 
beyond  this  Yanvitelli  formed  another  mole,  with 
a  triumphal  arch,  and  at  the  extremity,  the  pharos, 
— all  of  the  most  solid  and  durable  construction, 
and  equally  creditable  to  him  as  a  specimen  of 
civil  engineering  and  as  a  sample  of  his  architec- 
tural taste. 

Although  inferior  with  regard  to  architectural 
beauty  and  expensiveness  of  decoration  to  the  Pharos 
of  Cordouan,  yet,  beyond  all  other  light-houses  in 
utility,  as  well  as  being  the  most  masterly  work 
of  civil-engineering  ever  known,  is  the  Eddystone 
Zight-house, — the  Pharos  of  the  British  Isles, — 
standing,  as  it  does,  the  guiding-star  of  one  of  the 
most  extensive  stations  of  the  greatest  naval  power 
the  world  has  ever  known. 


260    SEVEN  WONDERS  OF  THE  WORLD. 

The  Eddystone  Light-house  has  not  only  the  merit 
of  utility,  but  also  symmetrical  beauty,  strength,  and 
originality ;  and  is  of  itself  sufficient  to  immortalize 
the  name  of  the  architect.  It  is  built  upon  the 
sloping  side  of  a  rock,  which  lies  nearly  south-west 
from  the  middle  of  Plymouth  Sound ;  the  nearest 
point  of  land  is  Earn  Head,  which  is  about  ten  miles 
distant.  The  rock  derives  its  name  from  the  set  or 
current  of  the  tides  which  is  observed  there.  An 
eddy  of  the  tides  is  a  current  setting  in  a  contrary 
direction  to  the  main  stream,  and  is  occasioned 
by  some  obstruction;  this  eddy  may  be  either  a 
smoothness  on  the  surface  of  the  water,  or  a  current 
in  an  opposite  direction  to  the  tide,  according  to  the 
velocity  of  the  stream  or  the  size  of  the  rock  which 
interposes  to  produce  it.  At  full  moon  it  is  high- 
water  at  the  Eddystone  at  a  quarter  past  five  o'clock; 
the  tide  sets  easterly,  or  up-channel,  and  the  ebb 
tide  sets  westerly  ;  spring  tides  rise  from  sixteen  to 
eighteen  feet,  neap  tides  ten  feet. 

The  first  light-house  erected  on  this  rock  was 
constructed  by  Mr.  Henry  Winstanley,  begun  in 
1696,  and  finished  in  1700.  While  superintending 
some  repairs,  during  a  terrible  hurricane  on  a 
November  night,  1703,  the  unfortunate  architect, 
with  his  men,  were  with  the  entire  building  blown 
into  the  ocean.  Not  a  vestige,  save  some  iron  stan- 
chions and  a  piece  of  chain,  was  left  to  tell  the 
tale  of  destruction. 

In  1706  another  light-house  was  commenced,  un- 
der the  superintendence  of  Mr.  John  Rudyerd,  a 
silk-mercer  of  Ludgate-hill,  London,  who  was  aided 
by  two  shipwrights  from  the  Eoyal  Arsenal  of 
Woolwich.     This     building,    which,    except    five 


THE   PHAROS    AT   ALEXANDRIA.  261 

courses  of  moorstone  on  the  rock,  was  entirely 
of  wood,  in  Mr.  Smeaton's  opinion  was  constructed 
in  a  masterly  manner ;  and,  it  appeared,  perfectly 
answered  its  end,  until  its  entire  destruction  by  fire 
in  December,  1755. 

The  present  edifice,  which  Mr.  John  Smeaton 
undertook  to  construct  in  1756,  is  a  circular  tower 
of  stone,  sweeping  up  with  a  gentle  curve  from  its 
base,  and  gradually  diminishing  to  the  top,  some- 
what similar  to  the  trunk  of  a  tree.  The  upper  ex- 
tremity is  finished  with  a  kind  of  cornice,  and  is 
surmounted  by  a  lantern,  having  a  gallery  round  it 
with  an  iron  balustrade.  The  tower  is  furnished 
with  a  door  and  windows,  and  staircase  and  ladders 
for  ascending  to  the  lantern  through  the  apartments 
for  those  who  keep  watch.  The  tower  is  built  of  a 
very  hard  species  of  granite  and  Portland  stone,  all 
of  which  was  furnished  by  the  neighboring  coasts : 
the  lantern  is  chiefly  formed  of  copper ;  it  has  six- 
teen frames,  in  each  of  which  are  nine  panes  of  glass ; 
the  light  is  a  reflector-frame  of  Argand  burners  and 
parabolic  reflectors,  formed  of  copper,  covered  with 
highly-polished  silver. 

The  building  was  completed  in  October,  1759, 
having  occupied  three  years  and  nine  weeks  in  its 
construction.  It  has  stood  ever  since,  and  promises, 
as  far  as  human  calculations  may  venture  to  sur- 
mise, to  stand  for  centuries. 

The  Bell-Bock  (or  Inchcape)  Light-house  is  about 
eleven  miles  from  the  nearest  land,  Redhead,  in 
Forfarshire,  on  the  east  coast  of  Scotland,  nearly 
opposite  the  mouth  of  the  Tay.  Prior  to  the  erec- 
tion of  this  pharos  there  were  many  wrecks  annu- 
ally on  this  rock,  which  is  barely  seen  at  spring 


202  SEVEN   WONDERS   OF  THE   WOULD. 

tides,  and  was  more  dangerous  from  having  deep 
water  all  round  it.  The  construction,  which  was 
committed  to  Mr.  Kobert  Stephenson,  began  in 
August,  1807,  and  was  finished  February  1,  1811. 
Besides  the  light,  there  are  two  bells,  which  in  thick, 
foggy  weather  are  tolled  by  machinery  night  and 
day,  at  half-minute  intervals.  The  design  is  on  the 
same  principle  as  the  Eddystone. 


C|*  Colossus  of  Ifiljote, 


Once  more  to  distant  ag6s  of  the  world 
Let  us  revert,  and  place  before  our  thoughts 
The  face  which  rural  solitude  might  wear 
To  the  unenlighten'd  swains  of  Pagan  Greece. 
— For  that  fair  clime,  the  lonely  herdsman,  stretch'd 
On  the  soft  grass  through  half  a  summer's  day, 
With  music  lull'd  his  indolent  repose : 
And,  in  some  fit  of  weariness,  if  he, 
When  his  own  breath  was  silent,  chanced  to  hear 
A  distant  strain,  far  sweeter  than  the  sounds 
Which  his  poor  skill  could  make,  his  fancy  fetch'd, 
Even  from  the  blazing  chariot  of  the  sun, 
A  beardless  youth  who  touch'd  a  golden  lute, 
And  fill'd  the  illuminated  groves  with  ravishment. 

Wordsworth. 


CONTENTS. 


Early  History  of  Rhodes. 

The  Statue  of  Apollo. 

The  City  of  Rhodes. 

The  Pythian  Games. 

Helius  and  Apollo. 

Worship  of  Apollo. 

The  Oracles. 

Apollo  and  the  Daphnephoria. 

Temples  and  Oracles  of  Apollo  at  Patara  akd  Delos. 

Pindar's  Ode  to  Diagoras  the  Rhodian. 

Other  Colossal  Statues — 

In  Egypt. 

In  India. 

In  Greece,  etc. 


THE   COLOSSUS   OF   RHODES. 

The  Colossus  was  a  celebrated  brazen  image  of 
Apollo,  of  the  enormous  height  of  one  hundred  and 
five  Grecian  feet,  placed  at  the  entrance  of  one  of 
the  harbors  of  the  city  of  Rhodes.  Rhodes,  or  rather 
Rhodus,  is  an  island  in  the  Mediterranean  Sea,  lying 
nearly  opposite  the  coast  of  Lycia  and  Caria,  from 
which  it  is  about  twenty  miles  distant. 

The  Island  of  Rhodes  is  about  one  hundred  and 
twenty  miles  in  circumference — it  has  a  fertile 
soil,  it  produces  fine  fruits  and  wines,  and  has  an 
atmosphere  of  great  serenity,  no  day  passing  with- 
out sunshine.  From  Homer  we  learn,  the  island 
was  occupied  by  a  colony  of  Greeks  from  Crete  and 
Thessaly  at  an  early  period,  and  also  that  the  wealth 
and  power  of  the  inhabitants  were  considerable. 
During  the  Peloponnesian  War  the  Rhodians  were 
flourishing  in  commerce,  arts,  and  arms,  and  extend- 
ing their  dominion  over  a  part  of  the  contiguous 
continent. 

The  capital  was  situate  on  the  east  coast,  at  the 
foot  of  a  gently  rising  hill,  in  the  midst  of  a  plain 
abounding  with  springs  and  profuse  in  vegetation. 
The  city  was  built  in  the  form  of  an  amphitheater, 
and  had  numerous  splendid  buildings :  among  others 
was  the  Halcum,  or  Temple  of  Apollo. 

The  Rhodians  were  for  many  centuries  famous  for 
the  study  of  the  sciences,  and  for  their  encourage- 


266         SEVEN   WONDERS   OF  THE   WORLD. 

ment  of  literature  and  the  arts ;  they  were  in  unity 
with  all  nations,  and  their  merchants  became  so  en- 
riched that  the  whole  city  was  supported  by  them. 

Khodes,  like  the  rest  of  Greece,  submitted  to 
Alexander  the  Great ;  but  at  his  death  the  Rhodians 
expelled  his  troops.  Having  derived  great  benefits 
from  their  commerce  with  Egypt,  they  attached 
themselves  to  Ptolemy  Soter,  and  refusing  to  assist 
Antigonus  in  his  war  with  the  Egyptian  prince,  he 
sent  his  son  Demetrius  with  a  fleet  to  intercept  the 
trade  between  Egypt  and  Rhodes. 

The  Rhodians  were  successful  in  all  their  combats ; 
at  which  Antigonus  became  so  incensed  that  he  fur- 
nished Demetrius  with  additional  ships  and  arma- 
ments to  besiege  the  city.  The  fleet  consisted  of 
three  hundred  and  seventy  vessels,  carrying  forty 
thousand  soldiers,  besides  horse  and  auxiliary.  Thus 
commenced  the  first  of  those  memorable  sieges  to 
which  Rhodes  has  at  various  times  been  subjected. 
The  courage  of  the  defenders  was  only  equaled  by 
the  ingenuity  with  which  the  assailants  plied  every 
engine  of  assault  that  the  mechanical  knowledge  of 
the  age  could  suggest. 

The  Rhodians,  having  obtained  succor  from  Ptol- 
emy, were  enabled  to  repulse  Demetrius.  They 
forced  him  to  accede  to  a  peace  on  these  terms — 
1  that  they  should  be  the  allies  of  Demetrius  against 
every  one  but  Ptolemy.  Thus  after  twelve  months' 
siege  ended  the  war,  and  the  temple  and  walls  were 
rebuilt. 

Demetrius,  reconciled  to  the  Rhodians,  in  ad- 
miration of  the  courage  they  had  displayed,  pre- 
sented them  with  all  the  engines  he  had  employed 
in  the  attack,  and  it  was  by  the  sale  of  these,  for 


Y4^   0*  TH1 

fajUYBRSITYj 


osr 


dilFOB^ 


COLOSSUS    OF    RHODES 


COLOSSUS    OF    ERODES.  269 

three  hundred  talents,  that  they  raised  the  famous 
Colossus. 

The  Colossus  was  a  statue  of  brass,  erected  in 
honor  of  Apollo,  the  tutelary  god  of  the  island,  for 
the  protection  be  was  supposed  to  have  afforded  the 
Rhodians  in  their  recent  conflict.  It  was  the  work- 
manship of  Chares,  of  Lindus,  a  pupil  of  Lysippus, 
a  celebrated  sculptor  and  statuary  of  Greece,  one 
of  whose  great  works  was  a  chariot  of  the  sun  at 
Rhodes.  Chares,  who  was  assisted  by  Laches,  was 
engaged  on  this  work  twelve  years. 

The  height  of  the  statue  was  one  hundred  and 
twenty-five  feet,  and  the  thumb  was  so  large  that 
few  people  could  clasp  it ;  the  fingers  were  larger 
than  most  statues.  It  was  hollow,  and  to  counter- 
balance the  weight,  and  to  render  it  steady  on  the 
pedestals,  its  legs  were  lined  with  large  stones. 
There  were  winding  staircases  leading  to  the  top  of 
the  statue,  from  whence  might  be  seen  Syria  and 
the  ships  sailing  to  Egypt.  It  is  generally  sup- 
posed to  have  stood,  with  distended  legs,  on  the  two 
moles  which  formed  the  entrance  of  the  harbor; 
however,  as  the  city  had  two  harbors — the  entrance 
to  the  one  was  fifty  feet  in  width,  and  the  other 
but  twenty  feet — it  seems  natural  to  suppose  that 
the  Colossus  was  placed  at  the  entrance  of  the 
narrowest. 

The  statue  was  erected  B.  C.  300,  and  after  hav- 
ing stood  about  sixty  years  was  thrown  down  by  an 
earthquake,  which  destroyed  the  walls  and  naval 
arsenal  at  the  same  time. 

The  Rhodians  after  its  fall,  and  the  injury  their 
city  had  sustained,  solicited  help  from  the  kings  of 
Egypt,  Macedonia,  and  other  countries,  to  enable 


270    SEVEN  WONDERS  OF  THE  WORLD. 

them  to  restore  it.  So  great  was  the  commercial 
importance  of  Rhodes  that  their  appeal  was  promptly 
answered  by  munificent  gifts ;  the  various  powers  of 
Asia  Minor  coming  forward  with  ready  zeal  to  serve 
a  city  whose  fleets  protected  the  seas  against  pirates 
and  extended  commercial  communication  ;  and  thus 
their  city  was  restored  to  all  its  magnificence ;  but 
the  oracle  at  Delphos  forbade  them  to  raise  the 
Colossus.. 

The  statue  having  remained  in  ruins  for  the  space 
of  eight  hundred  and  ninety-four  years,  in  the  year 
672  A.  D.  it  was  sold  by  the  Saracens,  who  were 
then  masters  of  the  island,  to  a  Jewish  merchant  of 
Edessa,  who  loaded  nine  hundred  camels  with  the 
metal.  Now  allowing  eight  hundred  pounds  weight 
to  each  load,  the  brass  thus  disposed  of  amounted 
to  seven  hundred  and  twenty  thousand  pounds 
weight. 

In  the  middle  of  the  Hippodrome,  at  Constan- 
tinople, there  is  a  kind  of  pyramid  constructed  of 
pieces  of  stone,  which,  as  we  learn  from  an  inscrip- 
tion on  its  base,  was  formerly  covered  with  plates  of 
copper.  The  following  is  the  translation  of  the 
inscription,  which  is  in  Greek : — 

"This  four-sided  wonder  among  lofty  things, 
which  through  time  has  sustained  much  injury, 
Constantius,  now  our  master,  the  son  of  Romanus, 
the  glory  of  the  monarchy,  repaired  it  in  such  a  way 
as  to  make  it  to  what  it  originally  was.  The  Colos- 
sus of  Rhodes  was  a  stupendous  object;  and  this 
copper  colossus  is  a  wonder  here." 

The  character  of  Rhodian  art  was  a  mixed  Greco- 
Asiatic  style,  which  seems  to  have  delighted  in  exe- 
cuting gigantic  and  imposing  conceptions;  for  be- 


COLOSSUS   OF   RHODES.  271 

sides  tlie  celebrated  Colossus,  three  thousand  other 
statues  adorned  the  city ;  and  of  these  one  hundred 
were  on  such  a  scale  of  magnitude,  that  the  presence 
of  any  one  of  them  would  have  been  sufficient  to 
ennoble  any  ether  spot.  The  architecture  of  Rhodes 
was  of  the  most  stately  character ;  the  plan  was  by 
the  same  architect  who  built  the  Piraeus  at  Athens, 
and  all  designed  with  such  symmetry  that  Aristides 
remarks,  "  It  is  as  if  it  had  been  one  house."  The 
streets  were  wide  and  of  unbroken  length,  and  the 
fortifications,  strengthened  at  intervals  with  lofty 
towers,  did  not  appear,  as  in  other  cities,  detached 
from  the  buildings  which  they  inclosed ;  but  by 
their  boldness  and  decision  of  outline  heightened 
the  unity  and  conception  of  the  groups  of  architec- 
ture within.  The  temples  were  decorated  with 
paintings,  by  Protogenes,  Zeuxis,  and  other  artists 
of  the  school  of  Rhodes.  The  celebrated  picture  of 
Ialysus,  who  was  a  celebrated  huntsman,  and  be- 
lieved by  the  Rhodians  to  have  been  the  son  of 
Apollo,  and  the  founder  of  their  city,  which  in  after- 
time  was  taken  to  Rome,  was  the  object  of  universal 
admiration. 

Pindar,  in  one  of  the  most  beautiful  of  the  Olym- 
pian odes,  records  the  myth,  that  it  was  raised  by 
Apollo  from  the  waves.  The  coins  of  Rhodes  are 
very  numerous,  and  show  good  workmanship.  The 
most  common  type  is  a  radiated  head  of  the  sun, 
and  the  reverse  a  flower,  said  by  some  to  be  a  pome- 
granate, and  by  others  a  rose,  which  may  be  con- 
sidered a  type  allusive  to  the  name  of  the  island, 
from  the  Greek  word  rhodon,  signifying  a  rose. 

The  island  was  abandoned  by  the  Saracens  in  the 

earlv  part  of  the  eighth  century  of  our  era,  and  again 

17 


272  SEVEN   WONDERS   OF  THE   WORLD. 

restored  to  the  dominion  of  the  Greeks.  At  the 
commencement  of  the  fourteenth  century  it  was  oc- 
cupied by  hordes  of  Greek  and  Mussulmen  corsairs, 
when,  in  1310,  Villaret,  grand  master  of  the  Knights 
of  St.  John,  made  himself  master  of  the  island,  and 
it  became  the  place  of  residence  of  the  order.  Five 
years  after  their  settlement  they  sustained  a  formida- 
ble siege  from  Othman,  sultan  of  the  Turks,  and 
they  succeeded  in  repulsing  him.  From  this  period, 
during  about  two  hundred  years,  they  continued  to 
resist  the  constantly  increasing  power  of  the  Turks, 
adding  to  the  advantages  of  a  position  naturally 
very  strong,  the  most  skillfully  designed  fortifications 
that  could  be  devised,  and  making  the  numerical 
superiority  of  the  infidels  of  little  avail,  by  their 
more  efficient  weapons,  their  admirable  organization 
in  the  field,  their  armor,  and  last,  but  not  least,  their 
incredible  valor.  They  even  carried  the  war  into 
the  enemy's  own  territories,  and  in  1311  took 
Smyrna,  and  maintained  it  as  an  outpost.  In  1365 
they  made  a  descent  upon  Egypt,  and  plundered 
Alexandria,  then  in  possession  of  the  Turks,  At 
the  close  of  this  century  they  sustained  a  severe  loss 
at  the  battle  of  Nicopolis  ;  and  in  1101,  Tamerlane, 
Emperor  of  the  Turks,  deprived  them  of  Smyrna. 
From  this  time  Rhodes  was  thrice  besieged  by  the 
Turks,  the  last  seige,  in  June,  1522,  being  con- 
ducted by  the  Sultan  Solyman  in  person.  The  Chris- 
tian princes  of  Europe,  thinking  probably  that  it 
was  hopeless  to  attempt  the  defense  of  so  distant  an 
outpost,  abandoned  Rhodes  to  its  fate :  the  gallant 
defenders  held  out  till  they  were  nearly  all  buried 
in  the  ruins  of  their  fortifications.  The  grand  master 
entered  into  a  capitulation  in  December,  and  the 


COLOSSUS   OF   RHODES.  273 

knights  evacuated  Rhodes  upon  honorable  terms. 
The  island  has  ever  since  remained  a  province  of 
the  Turkish  empire. 

The  greatest  length  of  Rhodes  from  north  to  south 
is  about  twelve  leagues;  its  breadth  is  six  leagues. 
The  whole  of  the  western  coast  is  indented  by  deep 
bays  formed  by  projecting  headlands,  and  capable  of 
affording  considerable  protection  to  shipping.  In  the 
center  of  the  island  is  the  Artemira  Mountain,  which 
commands  a  magnificent  view  of  the  Archipelago, 
the  woodland  scenery  of  the  island  forming  a  rich 
foreground,  sloping  down  to  the  coast,  and  the  dis- 
tance being  bounded  on  the  Asiatic  side  by  the  pic- 
turesque outline  of  the  Lycian  hills.  The  air  is  mild 
and  healthy,  and  loaded  with  fragrance  from  the 
numerous  orange  and  citron  groves,  and  also  from 
a  vast  quantity  of  aromatic  herbs,  which  everywhere 
abound.  The  fig-tree  and  the  vine  still  flourish  here, 
and  corn  is  grown,  but  only  enough  for  the  inhab- 
itants. In  ancient  times  the  inhabitants  exported 
many  articles  of  commerce ;  but  Turkish  misrule  has 
here,  as  everywhere  else,  counteracted  the  natural 
advantages  of  situation,  soil,  climate,  and  products. 

Of  the  city  of  Rhodes  there  are  no  remains  earlier 
than  the  time  of  the  knights  ;  but  all  their  works  are 
interesting  specimens  of  the  military  architecture  of 
the  middle  ages :  the  castle  of  the  order,  containing 
the  cells  of  the  knights ;  the  cathedral,  with  its 
curiously  carved  wooden  doors,  and  with  the  arms 
of  England  and  France  on  its  walls,  is  in  a  perfect 
state :  the  portcullises  and  draw-bridges  are  still 
extant.  There  are  also  remains  of  several  other 
churches.  The  suburbs  of  the  town  are  represented 
to  be  very  beautiful, — the  inhabitants  of  the  higher 


274         SEVEN   WONDERS   OF   THE   WORLD. 

classes  reside  there  ;  the  Christians  live  in  a  quarter 
by  themselves,  called  Villagio  Novo. 

The  Colossus  was,  as  stated,  an  image  which,  by- 
some  ancient  writers  is  represented  to  have  personi- 
fied the  sun,  and  that  it  was  crowned  by  a  figure  of 
that  luminary,  surrounded  with  rays.  By  later 
Grecian  writers  it  is  called  a  figure  of  Phoebus- 
Apollo.  By  Homer  and  Hesiod  the  sun  was  a  dif- 
ferent personage ;  the  name  given  to  that  deity  is 
Helius  ;  and  there  is  little  doubt  that  it  was  Helius 
that  the  Colossus  was  intended,  to  represent,  as  will 
hereafter  be  seen. 

Apollo,  (Phoebus- Apollo,)  one  of  the  principal 
gods  of  the  Grecian  heaven,  was  the  son  of  Zeus  and 
Leto,  (Jupiter  and  Latonia,)  and,  according  to  He- 
rodotus, is  the  Egyptian  Horns,  the  son  of  Dionysus 
(Osiris)  and  Isis.  At  the  command  of  his  father, 
Del  os  was  raised  from  the  sea  for  the  place  of  his 
birth,  and  there  also  was  born  his  sister  Diana. 
His  functions  were  immediately  proclaimed  to  the 
assembled  goddesses,  who  watched  his  birth : — "  The 
harp,  the  curved  bow  be  mine ;  and  I  will  proclaim 
to  men  the  unerring  counsel  of  Zeus." 

Leto  promised,  in  return  for  the  shelter  afforded, 
that  her  son  should  honor  that  humble  island  before 
all  other  places :  and  it  was  held  especially  sacred 
to  him,  and  became  the  principal  seat  of  his  worship. 
At  his  birth  Apollo  destroyed  with  arrows  the  ser- 
pent Pytho,  whom  Juno  had  sent  to  persecute  her 
brother.  Apollo  was  the  god  of  the  fine  arts,  of 
medicine,  music,  poetry,  and  eloquence, — of  all  of 
which  he  was  deemed  the  inventor :  he  also  invented 
the  flute.  He  had  received  from  Jupiter  the  power 
of  knowing  futurity,  and  he  was  the  only  one  of  the 


COLOSSUS   OF   RHODES.  275 

gods  whose  oracles  were  in  general  repute  through- 
out the  world.  He  was  not,  as  some  represent,  the 
inventor  of  the  lyre ;  but  it  was  given  to  him  by 
Mercury  in  exchange  for  the  caduceus,  with  which 
Apollo  was  wont  to  drive  the  flocks  of  Admetus. 
Apollo  is  a  leading  personage  in  mythological  fic- 
tion, and  a  favorite  with  the  poets,  who  have  engaged 
him  in  a  great  variety  of  adventures ;  he  was  also 
the  president  and  protector  of  the  muses. 

Apollo  is  generally  represented  in  the  prime  of 
youth  and  manly  beauty,  with  long  hair ;  hence  the 
Romans  were  fond  of  imitating  his  figure,  and  there- 
fore in  their  youth  they  were  remarkable  for  their 
fine  head  of  hair,  which  they  always  cut  short  at  the 
age  of  seventeen  or  eighteen ;  his  brows  were  bound 
with  the  sacred  bay-tree,  and  bearing  either  a  lyre  or 
his  peculiar  weapon  the  bow ;  in  many  instances  his 
head  is  surrounded  by  beams  of  light.  He  was  the 
deity  who,  according  to  the  notions  of  the  ancients, 
inflicted  plagues,  and  in  that  moment  he  appeared 
surrounded  with  clouds.  His  worship  and  power 
were  universally  acknowledged ;  he  had  temples  in 
every  part  of  the  world ;  the  principal  were  at  Delos, 
Delphi,  Claros,  Tenedos,  Cyrrha,  and  Patana ;  the 
most  splendid,  certainly,  was  that  at  Delphi,  where 
every  nation  and  individual  made  considerable  pres- 
ents when  they  consulted  the  oracle.  After  the  bat- 
tle of  Actium,  Augustus  built  a  splendid  temple  to 
Apollo  on  Mount  Palatine,  which  the  donor  also  en- 
riched with  a  valuable  library. 

Apollo  and  the  sun  have  often  been  confounded 
together,  and  a  careful  examination  of  the  ancient 
poets  will  prove  them  to  be  different  characters  and 
deities;  but  from  an  elementary  deity,  as  Helius 


276  SEVEN   WONDERS   OF  THE   WORLD. 

was,  representing  the  sun,  another  race,  with  a  new 
theocracy,  transferred  the  attributes  of  the  former 
deity  to  the  god  of  their  own  mythology.     When 
once  Apollo  was  addressed  as  the  sun,  and  repre- 
sented with  a  crown  of  rays  on  his  head,  the  idea  of 
identity  was  adopted ;  and  thence  arose  the  mistake. 
The  oriental  origin  of  the  god  is  shown  in  his  name, 
for  which  no  etymology  can  be  found  in  the  Greek ; 
the  Cretan  form  for  Helius  was  Abelias,  and  from 
thence  to  the  Doric  Apellinem :  thus  we  have  the 
Asiatic  root  Bel,  or  Hel,  an  appellation  for  the  sun  in 
the  Semetic  languages.     There  is  a  striking  similar- 
ity between  Apollo  and  the  Crishna  of  the  Hindoos, 
■ — both  are  inventors  of  the  flute;  the  victory  of 
Crishna  over  the  serpent  recalls  to  mind  that  of 
Apollo  over  Pytho.     Nor  does  the  legend  of  Apollo 
betray  a  resemblance  merely  with  the  fables  of  India. 
A  very  strong  affinity  exists  in  this  respect  with  the 
religious  systems  also  of  Egypt  and  Greece  :  we  find 
that  Orus,  or  Horus,  the  son  of  Osiris  and  Isis,  as- 
sisted his  mother  in  avenging  his  father,  by  attacking 
the  serpent-headed  Typho ;  Oris  also  was  skilled  in 
medicine,  learned  in  futurity,  and  was  also  the  em- 
blem of  the  sun. 

Miiller  in  his  history  of  the  Dorians,  maintains 
that  the  worship  of  Apollo  was  originally  peculiar  to 
the  Dorian  race,  who  were  at  all  times  his  most  zealous 
votaries ;  and  the  Khodians,  as  we  have  shown,  were 
a  colony  of  Dorians. 

The  slaying  of  the  serpent  Pytho  by  Apollo  seems, 
in  truth,  to  be  symbolical  of  one  system  of  religion, 
probably  that  of  the  sun,  supplanting  another  and 
more  ancient  one. 

Apollo,  like  the  sun,  was  supposed  to  be  con- 


COLOSSUS   OF   RHODES.  277 

stantly  visiting  his  various  abodes  throughout  the 
year.     In  the  JEneid  we  read — 

Such  as,  when  wint'ry  Legeia  and  the  streams 

Of  Xanthos  fair  Apollo  leaves,  and  looks 

On  his  maternal  Delos,  and  renews 

The  dances  ;  while  around  his  altars  shout 

Cretans,  Dryopians,  and  the  painted  race 

Of  Agathyrsians  ;  he  along  the  tops 

Of  Cynthus  walking,  with  soft  foliage  binds 

His  flowing  hair,  and  fastens  it  in  gold  ; 

His  arrows  on  his  shoulders  sound. 

In  the  festival  of  the  Daphnephoria,  which  the 
Thebans  celebrated  every  ninth  year  in  honor  of 
Apollo,  we  see  an  astronomical  character.  It  took 
its  name  from  the  laurel  or  bay-tree,  which  the  finest 
youth  of  the  city  carried  in  solemn  procession,  the 
tree  beina;  adorned  with  flowers  and  branches  of 
olive.  To  the  olive-tree,  decorated  in  its  turn  with 
laurels  and  flowers  intertwined,  and  covered  with  a 
purple  vail,  were  suspended  globes  of  different  sizes 
— types  of  the  planets ;  the  top  was  surmounted  by 
a  brazen  globe  representing  the  son  or  Apollo ;  one 
in  the  center  representing  the  moon ;  all  being  or- 
namented with  crowns  or  garlands,  the  number  of 
which  was  a  symbol  of  the  year.  The  olive-bough 
was  carried  in  procession  by  a  beautiful  youth  chosen 
from  some  illustrious  family,  both  of  whose  parents 
must  have  been  living  at  the  time.  The  youth  was 
dressed  in  rich  garments,  his  hair  hung  loose  and 
disheveled,  his  head  covered  with  a  golden  crown. 
He  was  preceded  by  one  of  his  nearest  relations, 
who  bore  a  rod  adorned  with  garlands,  and  followed 
by  a  train  of  virgins  with  branches  in  their  hands ; 
thus  the  procession  advanced  as  far  as  the  Temple 
of  Apollo,  where  supplicatory  hymns  were   sung. 


278         SEVEN   WONDEKS   OF  THE   WORLD. 

The  festival  owed  its  origin  to  the  following  circum- 
stance :  "  By  the  advice  of  an  oracle  the  ^Etolians, 
who  inhabited  Arne  and  the  adjacent  country, 
abandoned  their  ancient  possessions  and  went  in 
quest  of  a  settlement ;  they  invaded  Boeotia,  at  that 
time  pillaged  by  an  army  of  Pelasgians.  The  festival 
of  Apollo  being  near,  both  nations,  who  religiously 
observed  it,  laid  aside  hostilities,  and,  according  to 
custom,  cut  down  laurel  boughs  from  Mount  Heli- 
con, and  walked  in  procession  in  honor  of  the 
divinity.  On  the  day  of  the  solemnity,  Polemates, 
the  Boeotian  general,  in  his  sleep  saw  a  youth  who 
presented  him  with  a  complete  suit  of  armor,  and 
commanded  the  Boeotians  to  offer  solemn  prayers 
to  Apollo,  and  with  laurel  boughs  in  their  hands 
walk  in  procession  every  ninth  year.  Three  days 
after,  the  Boeotians  made  a  sally  on  their  besiegers, 
and  compelled  them  to  abandon  their  enterprise. 
Polemates  thereupon  instituted  this  novennial  fes: 
tival  in  honor  of  Apollo."  On  the  altar  burned  a 
flame,  the  agitation,  color,  and  crackling  of  which 
seemed  to  reveal  the  future — a  species  of  divination 
peculiar  to  the  sacerdotal  order,  and  which  pre- 
vailed also  at  Olympia  in  Elis,  the  center  of  most 
of  the  sacerdotal  usages  of  the  day.  By  a  natural 
allusion  to  the  movements  of  the  planets,  and  the 
mysterious  harmony  of  the  spheres,  the  god  of  the 
sun  also  became  the  god  of  music.  However,  as 
soon  as  this  Apollo,  whether  his  origin  is  to  be 
traced  to  the  banks  of  the  Nile,  or  the  plains  of 
India,  assumes  a  station  in  the  Greek  mythology, 
the  national  spirit  labors  to  disengage  him  of  his 
astronomical  attributes.  Henceforward  every  mys- 
terious or  scientific  idea  disappears  from  the  Daph- 


COLOSSUS   OF   RHODES.  279 

nephoria,- — they  become  only  commemorative  of  the 
passion  of  the  god  for  a  young  female,  who  turns  a 
deaf  ear  to  his  suit.  A  new  deity,  Helius,  discharges 
all  the  functions  of  the  sun  ;  and  in  his  quality  of 
the  son  of  Uranus  and  Terra,  is  placed  among  the 
cosmogonical  personifications ;  he  has  no  part  to 
play  in  the  fables  of  the  poets,  being  only  twice 
named  by  Homer ;  he  has  no  priests,  worship,  or 
solemn  festival  celebrated  in  his  praise.  There- 
upon, Apollo,  freed  from  every  attribute  of  an  ab- 
stract nature,  appears  in  the  Hall  of  Olympus,  and 
becomes  the  tutelary  god  of  the  Trojans,  the  pro- 
tector of  ./Eneas  and  Parvis,  and  the  lover  of  Daphne. 
According  to  the  Grecian  mythology,  Helius, 
or  the  Sun,  was  the  brother  of  Eos  or  Aurora — the 
Dawn,  and,  like  his  sister,  dwelt  on  the  eastern  side 
of  the  earth.  Homer  does  not  relate  how  Helius 
and  Eos  passed  from  west  to  east  during  the  night ; 
but  according  to  other  poets,  he  and  his  horses  were 
received  into  a  golden  basin  or  cup,  which  carried 
him  during  the  night  along  the  ocean-stream  round 
the  earth  to  the  place  where  he  was  to  set  out  again 
in  the  morning.     Thus  Stesi chorus: — 

Helius  Hyperionides 

Into  the  golden  cup  went  down ; 

That,  having  through  the  ocean  pass'd, 

He  to  the  depths  of  sacred  gloomy  night  might  come, 

Unto  his  mother  and  his  wedded  wife, 

And  to  his  children  dear. 

Mimnermus  says : — 

Helius  is  doom'd  to  labor  every  day ; 

And  rest  there  never  is  for  him 
Or  for  his  horses,  when  rose-finger'd  Eos 

Leaves  ocean  and  to  heaven  ascends. 


280    SEVEN  WONDERS  OF  THE  WOULD. 

For  through  the  wave  him  beareth  his  loved  bed, 

Hollow  and  form'd  of  precious  gold 
By  Hephaestus'  hand,  and  wing'd ;  the  water's  top 

Along  it  bears  the  sleeping  god, 
From  the  Hesperides'  to  the  -^thiops'  land, 

Where  stand  his  horses  and  swift  car 
Until  forth  goeth  morn-producing  Eos ; 

Then  Helius  mounts  another  car. 

In  Ovid  we  have  a  splendid  description  of  the 
palace  of  Helius,  in  which  he  sat  enthroned  in  state, 
surrounded  by  the  Days,  Months,  Years,  Seasons, 
Ages,  and  Hours.  The  Greek  poets  provided  him 
with  a  baiting-place  in  the  West,  to  refresh  him- 
self and  feed  his  wearied  steeds  with  ambrosia  be- 
fore setting  out  for  the  East.  Nonnus  describes  his 
dwelling  on  the  western  ocean,  where  Phosphorus 
(light-bringer)  takes  the  reins  from  the  god,  washes 
the  horses  in  the  waves  of  ocean,  and  leads  them  to 
their  glittering  crib ;  while  Helius,  greeted  by  the 
Hours,  rests  himself,  and  then,  attended  by  these 
deities,  drives  his  chariot  round  to  the  eastern 
ocean.  His  park  and  gardens  are  thus  described 
by  Claudian : — 

Thus  having  said,  his  gardens  all  bedew'd 

With  yellow  fires,  he  enters,  and  his  vale, 

Which  a  strong-flaming  stream  surrounds,  and  pours 

Abundant  beams  upon  the  water'd  grass, 

On  which  the  sun's  steeds  pasture.     There  he  binds 

With  fragrant  wreaths  his  locks,  and  the  bright  manes 

And  yellow  reins  of  his  wing-footed  steeds. 

Helius  was  the  parent  of  Phaeton,  whose  wild 
attempt  to  guide  the  solar  chariot  had  near  set  the 
world  on  fire.  Helius,  as  a  god  whose  eye  was  over 
all  things,  was  invoked  as  a  witness  to  solemn  oaths. 
By  artists  he  is  represented  driving  his  four-horse 


COLOSSUS   OF   RHODES.  281 

chariot,  his  head  surrounded  by  rays ;  and  by  his- 
torians we  are  told  that  the  chief  seat  of  his  worship 
was  the  island  of  Rhodes. 

The  Pythian  games  were  instituted  in  honor  of 
Apollo,  near  the  temple  at  Delphi ;  and,  according 
to  the  received  opinion,  by  Apollo  himself,  in  com- 
memoration of  his  victory  over  the  serpent  Pytho. 
They  were  originally  celebrated  once  in  nine  years, 
but  afterward  every  fifth  year.  The  gods  them- 
selves were  among  the  number  of  combatants. 
The  first  prizes  were  won  by  Pollux  in  boxing ;  by 
Castor  in  horse-racing ;  by  Hercules  in  the  pancra- 
tium ;  by  Zetes  in  fighting  with  armor ;  by  Calais 
in  running  ;  by  Telamo  in  wrestling  ;  and  by  Pelius 
in  throwing  the  quoit.  These  illustrious  conquerors 
were  rewarded  by  Apollo  himself,  who  was  present 
with  crowns  of  laurel.  Some  writers  suggest  that 
at  first  it  was  only  a  musical  contention,  in  which  he 
who  sung  best  the  praises  of  Apollo  obtained  the 
prize,  either  of  gold  or  silver,  or  a  garland ;  and  that 
Hesiod  was  refused  admission  to  these  games,  be- 
cause he  was  not  able  to  play  on  the  harp  or  lyre, 
which  was  required  of  all  such  as  entered  the  lists. 
The  songs  sung  were  called  "the  Pythian  modes," 
and  represented  the  fight  and  victory  of  Apollo  over 
Pytho.  These  games  were  afterward  introduced 
into  Rome,  and  there  called  Apollinares  Ludi. 

The  temple  and  shrine  of  Apollo  at  Delphi  may 
lay  claim  to  the  highest  antiquity,  from  mention 
made  of  them  by  Homer,  and  from  the  accounts  given 
us  by  Pausanias  and  Strabo.  The  Homeric  Hymn 
to  Apollo  informs  us,  that  when  the  Pythian  god 
was  establishing  his  oracle  at  Delphi,  he  beheld  on 
the  sea  a  merchant  ship  from  Crete :  this  he  directs 


282         SEVEN   WONDERS    OF  THE   WORLD. 

to  Orissa,  and  appoints  the  foreigners  the  servants 
of  his  newly-established  sanctuary,  near  which  they 
settled.  This  story,  stripped  of  the  language  of 
poetry,  means  that  a  Cretan  colony  founded  the 
temple  and  oracle  at  Delphi.  Strabo  says  it  was  first 
consulted  only  by  the  neighboring  states ;  but  that 
after  its  fame  became  widely  spread,  foreign  princes 
and  nations  eagerly  sought  responses  from  the  sacred 
tripod,  and  loaded  the  altar  of  the  god  with  rich 
and  costly  offerings.  Pausanias  tells  us,  that  the 
most  ancient  temple  of  Apollo  at  Delphi  was  formed 
out  of  branches  of  laurel,  and  that  those  branches 
were  cut  from  the  tree  which  was  at  Tempe.  To  this 
primitive  temple  succeeded  two  others — one  of  wax 
and  another  of  brass — which  finally  gave  place  to  a 
more  stately  edifice  of  stone,  by  Trophonius  and 
Agamedes.  This  temple  was  accidentally  destroyed 
by  fire  B.  C.  548.  The  council  of  the  Amphictyons 
undertook  to  build  another  for  the  sum  of  three 
hundred  talents,  for  which  the  Delphians  were  to 
pay  one  fourth ;  and  the  remainder  was  contributed 
by  other  cities  and  nations.  (The  Amphictyons 
were  twelve  deputies,  who  represented  the  respective 
nations  of  Greece,  and  were  instituted  to  unite  the 
various  communities  in  a  common  bond  of  amity, 
and  make  them  vigilant  for  the  tranquillity  and 
happiness  of  their  common  country ;  they  were  also 
the  protectors  of  the  Delphic  oracle,  and  guardians 
of  its  treasures,  and  adjudged  all  differences  between 
the  Delphians  and  those  who  came  to  consult  the 
oracle.  Their  decisions  were  held  sacred  and  in- 
violable, and  even  arms  were  taken  up  to  enforce 
them.)  The  new  temple  was  built  of  Porine  stone, 
with  a  front  of  Parian  marble ;  the  architect  was 


COLOSSUS   OF   RHODES.  283 

Spintliarus  of  Corinth.  The  vast  riches  that  were 
there  accumulated  led  Xerxes,  after  he  had  forced 
the  pass  of  Thermopylae,  to  attempt  the  seizure 
of  Delphi  and  its  treasures;  but  the  enterprise 
failed,  owing,  as  it  was  reported  by  the  Delphians, 
to  the  manifest  interposition  of  their  deity,  who 
terrified  the  barbarians,  and,  by  a  panic,  scattered 
their  bands.  Subsequent  to  this  event,  the  Phocions, 
to  defray  the  expenses  of  the  war  they  were  then 
waging  with  the  Thebans,  plundered  the  temple  to 
the  enormous  amount  of  ten  thousand  talents,  (equal 
to  £2,250,000.)  At  a  still  later  period  it  was  ran- 
sacked of  its  treasures  by  the  Gauls  under  Brennus. 
In  the  time  of  Strabo  the  temple  was  greatly  im- 
poverished. Nero  carried  off  five  hundred  statues 
of  bronze  at  one  time,  and  Constantine  removed  the 
sacred  tripods  to  adorn  the  Hippodrome  of  his  new 
city,  as  well  as  the  statues  of  Apollo  and  the  Heli- 
conian Muses.  Among  the  tripods  was  the  famous 
one  which  the  Greeks,  after  the  battle  of  Plataea, 
found  in  the  camp  of  Mardonius ;  the  brazen  column 
which  supported  this  tripod  is  still  to  be  seen  at 
Constantinople. 

The  answers  of  the  god  were  delivered  to  those 
who  came  to  consult  the  oracle  by  a  priestess  named 
Py  thia,  who  was  supposed  to  be  suddenly  inspired  by 
the  sulphureous  vapors  which  issued  from  an  orifice 
of  a  subterraneous  cavity  within  the  temple,  over 
which  she  sat  bare  on  a  three-legged  stool,  called  a 
tripod.  The  effect  of  the  vapor  caused  the  priestess 
to  be  convulsed ;  and,  with  eyes  sparkling  and  her 
hair  on  an  end,  she  spoke  the  oracles  often  confused, 
amid  bowlings  and  cries,  which  were  set  down  in  or- 
der by  the  priest.     The  priestess  was  always  required 


284:    SEVEN  WONDERS  OF  THE  WORLD. 

to  be  dressed  in  the  garments  of  a  virgin,  and  was 
bound  by  the  strictest  laws  of  temperance  and  chas- 
tity. The  Pythia  was  only  consulted  one  month  in 
the  year — about  the  spring.  It  was  required  that 
those  who  consulted  the  oracle  should  make  large 
presents  to  Apollo ;  and  thence  arose  the  opulence, 
splendor,  and  magnificence  of  the  celebrated  temple. 
Sacrifices  were  also  offered  to  the  divinity ;  and  if 
the  omens  proved  unfavorable,  the  priestess  refused 
to  give  an  answer. 

The  sacred  tripod,  as  already  stated,  was  placed 
over  the  mouth  of  a  cave,  whence  proceeded  the 
exhalation.  The  cavern  was  of  great  depth ;  but  no 
traces  of  the  sacred  aperture  remain  at  the  present 
day :  but  from  a  passage  in  Strabo,  that  "  the  navel 
of  the  earth  was  in  the  Temple  of  Apollo,"  some 
travelers  are  of  opinion  that  it  ought  to  be  searched 
for  in  the  very  middle  of  the  ancient  city. 

In  the  remains  of  several  heathen  temples,  though 
in  ruins,  there  are  traces  of  the  secret  ways  of  access, 
which  the  priests  possessed,  undiscovered  by  the 
spectators.  Dr.  E.  D.  Clarke  found  such  in  a  temple 
at  Argos ;  also  a  secret  chamber  in  an  oracular  cave 
at  Telmessus.  A  private  staircase  still  exists,  leading 
to  the  Adytum  in  the  Temple  of  Isis  at  Pompeii. 

Among  the  discoveries  of  Layard,  at  Khorsabad, 
are  sculptured  several  forms  of  tripods,  and  also  the 
triangular  altar. 

In  the  collection  of  the  Townley  Gallery  in  the 
British  Museum  there  is  a  bass-relief  representing  a 
warrior  seated,  consulting  the  oracle  of  Apollo.  The 
god  stands  before  him,  resting  his  right  hand  upon 
a  lyre,  through  which  is  seen  a  raven,  a  bird  which 
has  been  noticed  as  an  accompaniment  of  Apollo. 


COLOSSUS   OF   RHODES.  285 

Scarcely  any  important  enterprises  were  undertaken 
by  the  ancients  until  the  oracles  of  the  gods  had  been 
consulted,  and  in  no  instances  were  they  resorted  to 
with  more  zeal  than  at  the  commencement  or  during 
the  prosecution  of  a  war.  Alexander  the  Great 
consulted  the  Pythian  oracle  before  he  waged  war 
with  the  Persians ;  and  Pyrrhus  did  not  venture  to 
assist  the  people  of  Tarentum  against  the  Romans 
until  he  had  received  a  favorable  answer  from  the 
oracle. 

At  Patara,  a  town  of  Lycia,  on  the  eastern  side 
of  the  mouth  of  the  Xanthus,  there  was  a  temple  and 
oracle  of  Apollo,  where  the  god  resided  for  the  six 
winter  months,  the  rest  of  the  year  residing  at 
Delphi.  The  worship  of  Apollo  was  spread  through- 
out Lycia.  At  Xanthus  there  was  a  grove  sacred 
to  Latona,  near  the  ancient  temple  of  the  Lycian 
Apollo. 

In  the  same  collection  may  be  seen  another  bass- 
relief,  representing  a  father  and  two  sons  consulting 
the  oracle  of  Apollo.  They  are  clothed  alike  in  the 
Roman  military  costume,  and  each  has  his  right  hand 
upon  his  breast,  to  express  his  reverence  of  the  god. 
Apollo  is  seated  on  the  cover  of  the  tripod,  on  which 
the  priestess  of  the  oracle  usually  sat  when  delivering 
the  response  of  the  god,  whose  sentiments  she  was 
supposed  to  be  privy  to.  In  this  sculpture  Latona 
and  Diana,  the  mother  and  sister  of  Apollo,  stand 
between  him  and  the  warriors,  the  former  holding 
in  her  left  hand  the  offering  which  has  been  made 
to  the  god,  and  which  appears  to  be  frankincense. 

The  small  island  of  Delos,  in  the  iEgean  Sea,  cele- 
brated as  being  the  birthplace  of  Apollo  and  Diana, 
and  which  at  one  time  contained  one  of  the  richest 


286  SEVEN    WONDERS   OF   THE   WORLD. 

cities  of  Greece,  was  the  sacred  island  of  Apollo.  It 
abounds  with  remains  of  ancient  structures,  covering 
the  ground  to  such  an  extent  that  it  admits  of  little 
or  no  culture ;  and  there  was  a  famous  colossal  statue 
of  the  god,  some  remains  of  which,  yet  in  existence, 
are  of  gigantic  size  :  although  said  to  have  been  cut 
from  a  single  block  of  marble,  the  thigh  is  nine  feet 
in  circumference.  By  an  inscription  we  are  told 
it  was  dedicated  by  "  the  Naxians  to  Apollo."  By 
Homer's  Hymn  to  Delos,  it  appears  that  at  that  early 
date  it  was  celebrated  for  a  great  festival  to  Apollo. 
There  was  an  altar  said  to  have  been  erected  by  Apollo 
at  the  age  of  four  years,  and  made  by  the  horns  of 
goats  killed  by  Diana.  Upon  this  altar  it  was  not 
lawful  to  sacrifice  any  living  creature.  The  god  there 
delivered  his  oracles  in  the  summer,  in  a  plain  man- 
ner, and  without  any  ambiguity  or  obscure  meaning. 
The  temples  were  overthrown,  and  the  entire  island 
laid  waste  by  the  soldiers  of  Mithridates,  and  has 
remained  from  that  time  one  scene  of  desola- 
tion. 

The  oracle  of  Apollo  at  Delphi  was  the  most 
celebrated  among  the  Grecian  nations;  and  the 
importance  the  Greeks  and  Eomans  attached  to 
oracular  responses,  leads  to  an  inquiry  into  the  dis- 
position and  habits  of  all  people,  from  the  earliest 
ages  of  the  world,  to  gratify  their  curiosity  regarding 
the  future,  and  the  desire  to  penetrate  into  its  mys- 
teries. Among  nations  that  have  made  but  little 
advancement  in  civilization  and  intelligence,  this 
craving  desire  for  diving  into  futurity  exerts  a 
powerful  control  over  the  minds  of  men  in  every 
stage  of  society ;  and  in  combination  with  a  belief 
that  the  gods  had  the  ability  to  afford  the  knowledge 


COLOSSUS   OF   RHODES.  287 

so  eagerly  longed  for,  we  see  the  origin  of  the  oracles 
of  the  pagan  world. 

It  may  even  be  said  that  among  the  Jews  we  find 
several  kinds  of  oracles.  Those  delivered  viva  voce, — 
as  when  God  spoke  to  Moses  face  to  face.  Prophetical 
dreams, — as  when  God  foretold  to  Joseph  his  future 
greatness.  The  response  of  Urim  and  Thummim, 
which  accompanied  the  ephod  worn  by  the  high- 
priest.  This  manner  of  inquiring  of  the  Lord  was 
often  used  from  Joshua's  time  to  the  erection  of  the 
Temple,  after  which  they  consulted  the  prophets. 
The  most  famous  oracle  of  Palestine  was  that  of 
Baal-zebub,  King  of  Ekron,  which  the  Jews  them- 
selves consulted  ;  there  were  also  the  oracular  Ter- 
aphim,  the  ephod  of  Gideon,  and  the  false  gods  of 
Samaria,  which  had  their  oracles. 

The  Hebrews,  living  thus  in  the  midst  of  an 
idolatrous  people  accustomed  to  receive  oracles, 
and  to  have  recourse  to  diviners,  magicians,  and 
interpreters  of  dreams,  would  have  been  under  a 
more  powerful  temptation  if  God  had  not  afforded 
them  certain  means  of  knowing  some  future  events, 
by  prophets,  in  their  most  urgent  necessities.  And 
thus,  when  Moses  had  forbidden  the  Israelites  to 
continue  the  practice,  he  promised  to  send  them  a 
prophet  of  their  own  nation,  who  would  instruct 
them  in  the  truth. 

The  most  ancient  oracle  on  record  is,  probably, 
that  given  to  Rebekah  in  Genesis  xxv.  But  the 
most  complete  is  that  of  the  child  Samuel ;  the  place 
was  the  residence  of  the  ark, — the  regular  station  of 
worship  ;  the  manner  was  by  a  distinct  and  audible 
voice ;  the  subject  of  the  highest  national  im- 
portance— no  less  than  a  public  calamity,  with  the 

18 


288  SEVEN    WONDERS   OF   THE   WORLD. 

ruin  of  the  first  family  in  the  land.  This  communi- 
cative voice,  issuing  from  the  interior  of  the  sanc- 
tuary, was  properly  an  oracle.  It  may  also  be  said 
that  the  highest  instances  of  oracles  are  those  voices 
which,  being  formed  in  the  air  by  a  power  superior 
to  nature,  bore  testimony  to  the  celestial  character 
of  the  Divine  Messiah,- — as  at  his  baptism,  and  again 
at  his  transfiguration.  "  And  this  voice  from  heav- 
en," says  Peter,  "  we  heard."  Nothing  can  exceed 
the  sublimity,  grandeur,  and  majesty  of  these  ora- 
cles, and  they  could  not  but  forcibly  impress  the 
minds  of  the  witnesses.  These  communications 
were  marked  by  simplicity  and  distinctness ;  remote 
from  ambiguity  and  double-meaning,  they  spoke 
out  their  purport  explicitly. 

In  the  early  period  of  the  Christian  Church  the 
gifts  of  prophecy  and  inspiration  were  frequent ; 
after  that  time  the  greater  part  of  the  heathen  ora- 
cles fell  into  contempt  and  silence :  but  it  appears, 
from  the  edicts  of  the  Roman  emperors,  that  oracles 
existed  and  were  consulted  so  late  as  A.  D.  358. 
After  that  period  few  resorted  to  them,  and  there 
was  then  no  interest  to  retain  them.  Toward  this 
consummation  Christianity  powerfully  contributed, 
by  the  superior  enlightenment  it  everywhere  car- 
ried, and  by  the  display  which  it  made  of  the  false- 
hood and  folly  of  the  superstitions  it  was  designed 
to  overthrow. 

Thus,  throughout  all  time,  in  never-ceasing  change, 
until  the  final  accomplishment  of  God's  divine  law, 

Worlds  on  worlds  are  rolling  over 

From  creation  to  decay, 
Like  the  bubbles  on  a  river, 

Sparkling,  bursting,  borne  away; 


COLOSSUS   OF   RHODES.  289 

But  they  are  still  immortal. 
Who,  through  birth's  orient  portal, 
And  Death's  dark  chasm  hurrying  to  and  fro, 

Clothe  their  unceasing  flight 

In  the  brief  dust  and  light 
Gather'd  around  their  chariots  as  they  go ; 

New  shapes  they  still  may  weave, 

New  gods,  new  laws,  receive ; 
Bright  or  dim  as  they,  as  the  robes  they  last 

On  death's  bare  ribs  had  cast. 

A  power  from  the  unknown  God ; 
A  Promethean  conqueror  came, 
Like  the  triumphal  paths  he  trod 
The  thorns  of  death  and  shame. 
A  mortal  shape  to  him 
Was  like  the  vapor  dim 
Which  the  orient  planet  animates  with  light ; 
Hell,  sin,  and  slavery  came, 
Like  bloodhounds  mild  and  tame, 
Nor  prey'd  until  their  lord  had  taken  flight. 
The  moon  of  Mohammed 
Arose,  and  it  shall  set : 
While  blazon'd  as  on  heaven's  immortal  noon 
The  cross  leads  generations  on. 

Swift  as  the  radiant  shapes  of  sleep 

From  one  whose  dreams  are  paradise, 
Fly,  when  the  fond  wretch  wakes  to  weep, 
And  day  peer's  forth  from  her  blank  eyes  ! 
So  fleet,  so  faint,  so  fair, 
The  powers  of  earth  and  air 
Fled  from  the  folding  star  of  Bethlehem  ; 
Apollo,  Pan,  and  Love, 
And  even  Olympian  Jove 
Grew  weak,  for  killing  truth  had  glared  on  them  : 
Our  hills,  and  seas,  and  streams 
Dispeopled  of  their  dreams, 
Their  waters  turn'd  to  blood,  their  dew  to  tears, 
Wail'd  for  the  golden  years. 

The  celebrated  statue  called  the  Apollo  Belvedere, 
which  is  universally  allowed  to  be  one  of  the  finest 


290  SEVEN   WONDERS   OF  THE   WORLD. 

specimens  of  sculpture  extant,  was  found  among  the 
ruins  of  ancient  Antium,  in  Italy.  It  was  purchased 
by  Pope  Julius  II.,  and  by  him  placed  in  the  Bel- 
vedere of  the  Vatican;  whence  its  name.  It  is 
supposed  to  be  the  work  of  Agasius  the  Ephesian. 
It  is  a  standing  figure,  more  than  seven  feet  high, 
and  represents  the  god  naked,  except  the  cloak, 
which  is  fastened  round  his  neck,  and  hangs  over  the 
extended  arm.  The  left  hand  and  fore-arm  were 
lost,  and  were  restored  by  G.  Angelo  de  Montorsoli, 
a  pupil  of  Michael  Angelo;  so  that  the  original 
action  can  only  be  conjectured.  It  was  supposed 
to  represent  tne  god  at  the  moment  of  having 
discharged  an  arrow  at  the  serpent  Python,  watch- 
ing the  effect  of  his  weapon :  and  accordingly,  in 
the  restoration,  part  of  a  bow  was  placed  in  the 
left  hand.  Lord  Byron  beautifully  describes  the 
statue : — 

The  lord  of  the  unerring  bow, 
The  god  of  life,  and  poetry,  and  light, 
The  Sun  in  human  limbs  array'd,  and  brow 
All  radiant  from  his  triumph  in  the  fight ; 
The  shaft  has  just  been  shot — the  arrow  bright 
With  an  immortal's  vengeance ;  in  his  eye 
And  nostril  beautiful  disdain ;  and  might 
And  majesty  flash  their  full  lightnings  by, 
Developing  in  that  one  glance  the  Deity. 

Pindar,  in  his  seventh  Olympian  ode,  which  is 
addressed  to  Diagoras  the  Khodian,  on  his  victory 
with  the  csestus  in  the  seventy-ninth  Olympiad,  em- 
bodies so  much  of  the  mythical  history  of  Ehodes, 
that  it  forms  an  appropriate  conclusion  to  the  sub- 
ject. 

This  beautiful  ode, — which  was  said  to  have  been 
written  in  letters  of  gold,  and  suspended  in  the 


COLOSSUS   OF  RHODES.  291 

Temple  of  Minerva, — commences  with  a  highly 
poetical  simile  drawn  from  domestic  life,  which 
introduces  the  praise  of  the  victor  and  his  race. 
He  then  proceeds  to  the  story  of  Tlepolenlus,  an 
ancestor  of  Diagoras,  who  departed  for  Ehodes  at 
the  command  of  Apollo  ;  the  shower  of  gold  which 
Jupiter  caused  to  descend  there ;  then  follow  the 
fables  respecting  the  origin  of  Ehodes,  the  birth  of 
Pallas,  the  ancient  sacrifices,  and  the  gifts  imparted 
by  her  to  favored  Khodians,  especially  their  skill  in 
statuary.  Then  succeeds  a  digression  on  the  con- 
secration of  the  island  to  the  Sun  (Hyperionides.) 
After  a  panegyric  on  Tlepolemus  and  Diagoras,  the 
ode  concludes  with  an  invocation  to  Jupiter,  to 
whom  divine  honors  were  paid  on  Atabyrius,  a 
mountain  of  Ehodes,  propitiating  his  continued 
favor  for  both  poet  and  victor ;  and  a  moral  reflec- 
tion on  the  mutability  of  human  fortune. 

The  ancient  Egyptians  in  statuary,  as  in  all 
other  achievements  of  the  hand  of  man,  in  mag- 
nitude of  proportion,  far  outstrip  every  other  people 
of  the  world. 

I  met  a  traveler  from  an  antique  land 

Who  said,  "  Two  vast  and  sunkless  legs  of  stone 

Stand  in  the  desert.     Near  them  on  the  sand, 

A  shatter'd  visage  lies,  whose  frown 

And  wrinkled  lip,  and  sneer  of  cold  command, 

Tell  that  its  sculptor  well  those  passions  read 

Which  yet  survive,  stamp'd  on  these  lifeless  things, 

The  hand  that  mark'd  them,  and  the  heart  that  fed : 

And  on  the  pedestal  these  words  appear : 

'  My  name  is  Oxymandius,  king  of  kings ; 

Look  on  my  works,  ye  mighty,  and  despair !' 

Nothing  beside  remains.     Round  the  decay 

Of  that  colossal  wreck  boundless  and  bare 

The  loose  and  level  sands  stretch  far  away." — Shelly. 


292  SEVEN   WONDERS   OF  THE  WORLD. 

In  the  remains  of  the  large  edifice  called  the  Mem- 
nonium  is  the  great  colossal  statue  of  red  granite 
broken  off  at  the  waist,  the  upper  part  lying  on  its 
back.  In  its  fall  it  carried  with  it  the  whole  temple- 
wall  within  its  reach.  The  features  are  entirely 
obliterated  by  the  hand  of  man ;  and  to  the  same 
cause  we  must  attribute  the  destruction  of  the  statue. 
The  left  foot,  which  is  entire,  measures  six  feet  ten 
inches  across ;  it  is  sixty-two  feet  round  the  shoul- 
ders ;  and  the  length  of  the  nail  of  the  second  toe 
to  its  insertion  is  twenty-three  inches.  The  hiero- 
glyphic characters  engraved  upon  the  arm  are  large 
enough  for  a  man  to  walk  in.  There  is  in  the 
British  Museum  a  colossal  fist  of  red  granite,  which 
is  said  to  have  belonged  to  this  statue ;  by  whom  it 
was  broken  off  is  unknown,  but  it  was  surrendered 
to  the  British  among  other  antiquities  obtained  by 
the  French  in  Egypt. 

Belzoni  obtained  from  this  place  a  colossal  head, 
which  has  sustained  much  injury,  which  is  now  in 
the  British  Museum.  The  height  of  this  fragment 
is  eight  feet.  Norden,  a  traveler,  who  saw  the 
statue  entire,  in  1737,  gives  a  measurement  of 
twenty  feet,  and  that  it  was  of  a  single  piece  of 
black  granite.  The  material  of  which  the  statue 
is  made  is  a  fine  kind  of  Syene  granite  of  one  entire 
mass,  but  of  two  colors.  The  head  has,  with  great 
judgment,  been  formed  out  of  the  red  part  of  the 
granite,  while  the  dark  part  was  appropriated  to 
the  breast,  and  probably  also  to  the  rest  of  the 
body.  The  figure  was  in  a  sitting  posture,  like 
most  of  the  Egyptian  colossal  statues ;  for  Belzoni 
found  it  near  the  remains  of  its  body  and  chair. 
From  the  size  of  the  fragment  we  should  judge 


COLOSSUS   OF  ERODES.  293 

the  entire  height  was  twenty-four  feet.  The  weight 
of  the  mass  is  estimated  at  between  ten  and  twelve 
tons. 

It  is  universally  agreed  that  this  is  one  of  the  finest 
specimens  of  Egyptian  colossal  sculpture  now  known 
to  exist ;  and  if  we  admit  it  to  be  a  work  of  genuine 
Egyptian  art  (of  which  there  can  be  no  doubt)  we 
may  consider  it  a  favorable  specimen  of  what  that 
nation  could  accomplish.  For  so  hard  and  unwieldy 
a  mass  to  be  wrought  even  into  any  resemblance  to 
the  human  form,  and  polished  to  so  high  a  degree^ 
would  of  itself  be  a  labor  worthy  of  admiration ; 
but  that  the  proportions  of  the  parts  should  have 
been  so  well  preserved,  and  that  beauty  should  have 
been  impressed  on  this  colossal  face,  proves  that  at 
least  some  kinds  of  sculpture  were  once  carried  to  a 
high  degree  of  perfection  in  Egypt;  though  they 
may  not  be  of  that  description  of  art  which  our  ear- 
liest associations  teach  us  to  admire.  In  the  colossal 
statues  of  Egypt  calmness  and  repose  are  the  most 
striking  characteristics ;  but  this  figure  shows  some- 
what more.  It  represents  a  young  man :  the  breast 
is  broad  and  well-defined.  The  beard,  united  in  one 
mass,  adheres  to  the  chin.  The  line  of  the  eyebrows 
perhaps  does  not  project  enough  above  the  eyeball ; 
the  tip  of  the  nose,  too,  is  perhaps  too  much  rounded, 
and  the  ears,  as  usual  in  Egyptian  statues,  are  placed 
too  high ;  but  even  with  these  defects,  and  with  lips 
too  thick  for  our  notions,  the  face  is  full  of  softness, 
tranquillity,  and  beauty. 

This  statue  has  received  the  name  of  the  younger 
Memnon,  partly  because  it  was  found  in  the  temple 
to  which  the  name  of  Memnonium  has  been  given  ; 
partly,  also,  because  it  is  supposed  to  belong  to  the 


294         SEVEN   WONDERS   OF  THE   WORLD. 

same  class  with  the  statues  so  celebrated  under  the 
name  of  Memnon. 

In  the  plains  of  Thebes  are  two  colossal  statues 
seated  on  their  chairs ;  they  are  about  fifty  feet  high, 
and  seated  each  on  a  pedestal  which  is  six  feet  in 
height,  eighteen  long,  and  forty-four  broad.  The  two 
statues  are  but  forty-four  feet  asunder,  and  face  the 
same  point  of  the  compass,  south-south-east.  In  size, 
character,  and  proportion  they  are  very  similar ;  the 
one  to  the  south  is  of  a  broken  block  of  stone,  the 
northern  has  been  broken  at  the  waist.  On  the 
pedestals  which  support  them  are  carved  a  variety 
of  hieroglyphical  representations,  with  the  usual 
mystic  symbols  ;  and  on  the  sides  of  the  thrones  on 
which  they  are  seated,  two  priests  are  represented 
tightening  with  their  hands  and  feet  bands  of  lotus- 
stalks,  which  are  apparently  to  keep  upright  a  plat- 
form on  which  the  thrones  themselves  are  supposed 
to  be  placed.  These  two  statues,  though  so  muti- 
lated, are  deserving  of  particular  attention,  because 
they  still  present  us  with  the  whole  effect  produced 
by  the  largest  colossi  in  their  original  position ;  the 
impression  is  not  destroyed  by  the  injuries  they 
have  sustained. 

At  Ipsambul,  in  Lower  Nubia,  in  front  of  the 
great  rock-cut  temple,  the  indefatigable  Belzoni, 
after  clearing  away  the  accumulated  sand  of  centu- 
ries, brought  to  the  light  of  day  four  enormous  sit- 
ting colossi,  which,  excepting  the  great  sphinx,  are 
the  largest  in  existence,  the  height  of  them  being 
fifty  feet :  two  only  are  exposed,  the  others  are  par- 
tially buried  in  the  sand.  They  are  in  front  of  the 
temple.  All  travelers  represent  these  figures  to  be 
the  most  beautiful  colossi  that  any  of  the  Egyptian 


COLOSSUS   OF   RHODES.  295 

ruins  present ;  the  assemblage  of  grace  in  the  fea- 
tures, which  are  still  in  high  preservation,  evinces  a 
beauty  of  expression  that  is  the  more  striking,  as  it 
is  the  more  unlooked-for  in  statutes  of  such  dimen- 
sions. On  the  top  of  the  door  of  the  temple  is  a 
figure  of  Osiris,  twenty  feet  high,  with  colossal  hie- 
roglyphic figures  beside  it :  on  the  top  of  the  temple, 
over  a  frieze,  is  a  cornice,  on  which  is  a  row  of 
twenty-one  sitting  monkeys,  eight  feet  high. 

There  is  a  smaller  rock-cut  temple  at  Ipsambul ; 
the  approach  to  it  being  free  from  sand,  shows  the 
whole  front,  which  is  close  to  the  River  Nile,  and 
twenty  feet  above  its  usual  level.  The  whole  depth 
of  the  front  is  seventy-six  feet.  The  front  of  the 
temple  is  inclosed  in  a  square  border  or  frame, 
which  is  covered  with  hieroglyphics,  as  are  likewise 
the  doorway  in  the  center,  and  the  jambs,  that  sepa- 
rate six  colossal  statues  thirty  feet  high.  Two  of  the 
figures  are  females,  and  both  supposed  to  represent 
Isis.  The  four  others,  which  are  male  figures,  have 
each  a  smaller  figure  by  its  side :  one  of  these  rep- 
resents Osiris.  The  name  of  Rameses  appears  in 
numerous  places  on  the  border.  The  date  of  this 
king  was  B.  C.  1355.  At  Essaboua,  on  the  Nile, 
are  the  remains  of  a  very  ancient  temple,  partly 
rock-cut  and  partly  constructed,  approached  by  an 
avenue  of  sphinxes,  thirty  feet  wide,  and  two  colos- 
sal figures  in  front ;  and  at  the  entrance  are  ruins 
of  four  colossal  figures.  This  is  supposed  to  be  of 
prior  date  to  Thebes. 

There  is  in  the  British  Museum  a  colossal  statue 
in  a  complete  state,  which,  although  not  a  fifth  part 
of  the  size  of  those  just  described,  will  convey  to 
the  mind  some  idea  of  those  eaormous  figures.    The 


296  SEVEN   WONDERS   OP  THE  WORLD. 

height  of  it  is  nine  feet  six  inches.  It  is  supposed  to 
represent  Anranoph  III.,  or  Memnon,  a  sovereign  of 
Egypt,  1430  B.  C.  Considering  the  early  period  at 
which  it  was  executed,  it  is  not  without  merit  as  a 
work  of  art.  In  the  British  Museum  may  also  be 
seen  a  colossal  Egyptian  head  which  was  found  at 
Karnak.  It  is  of  red  granite  polished  to  a  degree  of 
smoothness,  and  is  perfect,  except  the  left  ear  and 
part  of  the  chin,  which  are  broken  off.  It  is  sur- 
mounted by  a  sort  of  miter,  and  the  entire  height  of 
head  and  miter  is  ten  feet.  There  is  also  a  colossal 
arm,  which,  doubtless,  originally  belonged  to  this 
figure ;  and  judging  from  the  appearance  of  the  arm 
we  may  conclude  they  formed  part  of  a  standing 
statue  of  the  height  of  twenty-six  feet.  In  front  of 
the  cap  appears  the  serpent, — the  Egyptian  emblem 
of  royalty. 

But  all  these  colossi  are  dwarfs  compared  with  the 
great  sphinx  at  Jizeh.  By  Pliny  we  are  told :  "  The 
sphinx  is  in  front  of  the  Pyramids — an  object  more 
wonderful  than  they — and  a  kind  of  rural  deity  to  the 
neighboring  people.  They  think  King  Amasis  was 
buried  in  it,  and  that  it  was  conveyed  to  the  spot ; 
but  it  is  made  of  the  natural  rock,  and  polished 
smooth."  The  size  from  the  chin  to  the  top  of  the 
head  is  said  to  be  twenty-eight  feet,  and  the  body  is 
above  one  hundred  feet  long.  This  figure,  which 
for  ages  has  been  buried  in  the  sand,  was  by  Cavig- 
lia,  after  great  labor,  laid  bare  to  the  foundation. 
The  paws,  which  are  about  fifty  feet  long,  are  con- 
structed of  masonry,  but  the  rest  of  the  body  is  cut 
out  of  the  rock.  On  the  stone  pavement,  in  front 
of  the  sphinx,  and  between  his  paws,  there  was 
found  a  block  of  granite  fourteen  feet  high,  seven 


COLOSSUS   OF  ERODES.  297 

broad,  and  two  thick  :  the  face  of  which  is  adorned 
with  sculptures  in  bass-relief,  and  long  inscriptions 
well  executed. 

In  the  British  Museum  there  is  a  colossal  statue, 
the  head  of  which  is  gone.  This  figure  was  formerly 
placed  upon  the  summit  of  a  monument  situate  on 
the  south  side  of  the  Acropolis  of  Athens.  This 
edifice,  known  as  the  Choragic  Monument  of  Thra- 
syllus, was  constructed  320  B.  C. ;  and,  by  an  in- 
scription remaining  on  it,  we  learn  that  it  was  raised 
by  Thrasyllus  to  perpetuate  the  memory  of  a  victory 
obtained  by  his  tribe  at  the  festival  of  Bacchus, 
while  Thrasyllus  was  leader  of  the  chorus.  The 
figure  is,  by  artists  and  connoisseurs,  decided  to 
represent  Bacchus,  the  god  of  joy. 

In  the  British  Museum  may  also  be  seen  a  colossal 
head,  which  probably  belonged  to  a  copy  of  the  fa- 
mous statue  of  Hercules,  by  Gly  con,  which  was  found  v 
in  the  baths  of  Caracala  at  Rome.  The  head  is  of 
the  finest  class  of  Greek  sculpture,  and  was  dug  up 
at  the  foot  of  Mount  Vesuvius,  where  it  had  been 
buried  by  the  lava ;  it  was  obtained  by  Sir  ~W. 
Hamilton,  and  by  him  was  presented  to  the  Mu- 
seum. The  bust  measures  two  feet  six  inches  in 
height. 

In  the  interior  of  the  Island  of  Java  there  are 
remains  of  very  large  temples,  with  marble  statues 
of  their  gods  eight  feet  high.  At  Chandisevu  are 
most  splendid  remains  of  a  temple,  the  entrance  to 
which  is  guarded  by  eighteen  gigantic  watchmen. 

The  great  statue  at  Sumnat  inHindoostan,  twenty- 
six  feet  high,  was  made  of  marble,  inlaid  with  gold 
and  precious  stones,  as  were  also  the  fifty-six  mon- 
strous pillars  of  the  hall  in  which  it  stood. 


298  SEVEN   WONDERS   OF   THE   WOKLD. 

Among  the  Greeks  colossal  statues  were  not  un- 
common. Pausanias  mentions  several  that  were 
thirty  feet  high.  The  people  of  Elis  set  up  a  bronze 
statue  of  Jupiter,  twenty-seven  feet  high,  in  the 
sacred  grove  near  Olympia.  The  colossus  which 
Nebuchadnezzar  set  up  in  the  plains  of  Dura  was 
"  an  image  of  gold,  [probably  gilt,]  whose  height 
was  three-score  cubits."  And  the  colossal  statue  of 
Belus,  which  Herodotus  mentions  as  having  once 
existed  at  Babylon,  was  of  solid  gold,  and  twelve 
cubits  high. 

Among  the  colossal  statues  of  modern  times,  we 
may  notice  the  very  remarkable  and  spirited  group 
of  Peter  the  Great  at  St.Petersburgh,  by  Falconet, 
a  French  sculptor.  The  emperor  is  on  horseback, 
his  steed  is  in  the  act  of  charging,  and  is  on  his  hind 
legs  ;  the  figure  of  the  emperor  is  over  eleven  feet 
in  height,  that  of  the  horse  is  seventeen  feet.  The 
group  is  in  bronze,  and  was  cast  at  a  single  jet;  the 
weight  of  it  is  thirty-six  thousand  six  hundred  and 
thirty-six  pounds.  It  stands  upon  a  rock  of  granite, 
weighing  fifteen  hundred  tons,  which  was  conveyed 
a  distance  of  four  miles. 

Within  the  last  two  years  the  world  has  seen,  in 
the  production  of  Schwanthaler's  colossal  statue  of 
Bavaria,  a  specimen  of  contribution  of  our  own  day 
to  gigantic  form.  This  stupendous  work  of  art — aw- 
ful in  its  Titanic  proportions,  and  its  calm  majestic 
beauty — the  result  of  ten  years'  constant  anxiety — 
stands  on  a  broad  meadow  to  the  west  of  Munich, 
a  portion  of  the  great  plain  that  stretches  away 
to  the  feet  of  the  Alps.  It  rests  on  the  edge  of  what 
appears  at  first  to  be  an  artificial  terrace, — but  it  is 
in  fact  a  huge  step,  where  the  plain  suddenly  de- 


COLOSSUS   OF   RHODES.  299 

scends  into  that  lower  plain  on  which  stands  the 
city  of  Munich.  The  figure  of  this  colossal  virgin 
of  the  German  world — with  her  majestic  lion  by 
her  side — is  fifty-four  feet  high,  and  is  placed  on  a 
granite  pedestal,  thirty  feet  in  height;  so  that  the 
beautiful  Doric  temple  of  the  Ruhmeshalle,  or  Hall 
of  Fame,  of  white  marble, — before  which  the  statue 
is  placed, — seems  dwarfed  into  insignificance. 

At  the  end  of  the  long  walk  in  "Windsor  Park, 
there  is  placed  on  the  top  of  a  hill  an  artificial  group 
of  massy  stone,  so  placed  as  to  represent  a  rock, — a 
colossal  equestrian  statue  of  George  the  Third,  by 
Wyatt:  the  horse  and  rider  are  twenty-six  feet  in 
height ;  the  total  elevation,  including  the  rock,  is 
fifty  feet.  The  approach  from  the  castle  is  through 
a  vista  of  lofty  trees,  so  that  the  spectator  does  not 
realize  the  colossal  dimensions  of  the  statue  till  he 
close  unto  it. 

With  the  conclusion  of  his  labors,  the  compiler  of 
this  volume  congratulates  his  readers  on  the  im- 
proved spirit  of  an  age  in  which  the  constant 
developments  of  human  progress  compare  with  the 
seven  wonders  of  ancient  times  as  does  reality  with 
fancy ;  as  does  a  substantial  utility  with  showy 
ornament. 

Indeed,  the  present  age,  at  least  in  enlightened 
countries,  rises  above  the  past  as  does  a  heaven- 
inspired  Christianity  above  a  groveling  heathenism, 
— so  that  now,  instead  of  honoring  the  pagan  cus- 
tom of  heaping  up  huge  piles  to  incumber  the  earth, 
we  only  accord  our  admiration  to  achievements  which 
benefit  our  race  and  confer  real  blessings  on  man- 
kind. 

The  age  of  pyramids  and  colossal  statues  is  past ; 


300    SEVEN  WONDERS  OF  THE  WORLD. 

but  now  we  have  steamboats,  railroads,  and  tbe 
magnetic  telegraph.  Instead  of  wondering  now  at 
a  single  watch-tower,  with  fires  fitfully  burning  on 
its  top,  we  may  find  the  coasts  of  all  oceans  nightly 
illuminated  with  light-houses,  scientifically  con- 
structed, and  made  to  reflect  their  rays  upon  the 
sea  for  the  benefit  of  passing  and  approaching  mar- 
iners. 

"What  is  still  better,  instead  of  a  blind  and  de- 
grading idolatry  to  paralyze  the  moral  feelings  of 
men  and  nations,  the  best  capacities  of  our  natures 
are  now  cultivated  and  developed  by  those  enter- 
prises of  benevolence  which  seek  to  enlighten  and 
bless  the  world  by  diffusing  everywhere  abroad  the 
knowledge  of  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus  Christ,  the 
Saviour  of  mankind. 

fWVJ 


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